Bec Hewitt may be contemplating life as a single mum, with her tennis-star husband Lleyton crushing her dreams of more children and refusing her plea to move back to Australia. The former Home And Away star, 29, gave up her TV career for life on the road with Lleyton, 31. Now she is at her lowest ebb in years as she battles tense times within their seven-year marriage.

Worried friends say the romance in the glamour couple’s relationship has faded and they are at loggerheads over a cluster of personal issues, including Lleyton’s refusal to have more children. He and Bec already have three kids – Mia, 6, Cruz, 3, and Ava, who turns 2 on October 19. “Being the content mother of a large brood of kids has been Bec’s dream from childhood and she’s never been secretive about wanting to have more siblings for Mia, Cruz and Ava,” confides a friend, who praises Bec as “the best wife and mum” and reveals she’s livid at the way she is being denied her dream.

“They [Bec and Lleyton] were once proud to boast they’d never had a cross word, but they’re arguing about this all the time and things are getting worse. “Right now you can’t imagine these two gushing over each other and kissing in public the way they used to – they’re both too annoyed,” the friend adds. “To be fair, Lleyton has always been open about hating the chaos of travelling with a big entourage.

He often pats Bec on the back by saying he doesn’t know how she’s managed over the years, raising the kids in hotel rooms and rented houses or holding the fort at home as a single mum. “He has always maintained they would stop at three children, while Bec always assumed she’d be able to talk him round.” Bec is said to have been devastated by rumours earlier this year that she was pregnant.

Read more about Bec and Lleyton in this week's Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 8, 2012.