Baby girl for Bec and Lleyton

SYDNEY - An ecstatic Lleyton Hewitt fired off text messages to friends and family in the middle of the night after his wife Bec gave birth to their first child, a daughter.

The former Home and Away actor most know as Bec Cartwright delivered the healthy girl at about 1.45am AEDT (3.45am NZ time) yesterday in Sydney's exclusive Royal North Shore Private Hospital.

"Lleyton and Bec Hewitt are pleased to announce the overnight arrival of their first child, a healthy baby girl," the Hewitts' manager Rob Aivatoglou said.

"At this stage Lleyton and Bec have not announced a name for their new arrival. Lleyton and Bec are absolutely thrilled.

"Most importantly, everything went smoothly and mother and daughter are well.

"Bec and Lleyton very much look forward to taking their daughter home in the coming days."

Friends of the tennis ace and his wife of four months were woken by text messages in the middle of the night.

One friend said the message announced a baby girl, that mum and bub were doing well and that dad was very happy.

Dawn Hewitt also received an early morning phone call from her delighted grandson.

"About half past one (Adelaide time) he rang and said yes, it's all happened ... and then I couldn't go back to sleep anyway because I was thinking about that," Mrs Hewitt told the Nine Network in Adelaide.

"So I haven't had any sleep. Apparently he's the same."

Bec's former Home and Away castmates heard the news on set early this morning.

"Everyone was just so pumped and excited for her," said Jason Smith, who plays Robbie Hunter on the popular soap.

"It's been a long time coming and the whole Home and Away set is buzzing at the moment and so happy for her and Lleyton.

"Now there is a little Bec Junior out there. I reckon it will look a cross between the two of them and be an actor who plays a tennis player."

Hewitt's coach Tony Roche was believed to be among the first to see the newborn. Roche was at the hospital by coincidence, after his daughter also gave birth there today.

As boxes of flowers arrived for mother and baby, media camped outside the Royal North Shore were kept well away, largely to protect an exclusive magazine deal with Woman's Day, rumoured to be worth $A1 million ($NZ1.06 million).

"We've sent our best wishes and big bunch of flowers to the new parents and look forward to sharing the official baby photos and interview with our readers in the coming weeks," said Woman's Day deputy editor Nicole Byers.

And within hours of the birth, Bec's bub was already being linked to the future king of Denmark.

Sportingbet Australia today released 2,000-1 odds that Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik's first child would marry Lleyton and Bec's daughter by 2035.

The Danish prince was born on October 15 and will be named at his christening on January 21.

Bec, 22, and Lleyton, 24, met five years ago at a Starlight Foundation charity tennis day.

But they began dating only late last year and became engaged six weeks later, in late January.

Hewitt popped the question on the night of his loss in the final of the Australian Open.

Their engagement came less than four months after Hewitt's break-up with former world number one women's tennis player Kim Clijsters, and followed Cartwright's four-year romance with Home and Away co-star Beau Brady.

The pair bought a palatial home on Sydney's northern beaches and married at the Sydney Opera House in July.

- AAP