Ostapenko on deciding to play Australian Open after personal tragedy: "I decided to play because I will be busy with something"

This is despite the Latvian ace dealing with personal tragedy which struck earlier in January. The former World No.5 was ready to play in Auckland and received the news that her father, Jevgenijs had passed away.

She flew home as expected but decided to come back to Australia spending 50 hours in the air over four days and said playing in Melbourne helps take her mind off the situation and that tennis is her only focus while she is playing.

I decided to play (the Australian Open) because I will be busy with something,” she told ausopen.com. “If I stay home I think it's gonna push me even more, and will be even harder for me.”

"I was just trying to be in the present moment, to not think about anything else,” she said of her first-round victory.

“Just, I'm on the court, I'm playing a match, and that's it. In general, I think I played very well and I was just in the present moment. I was just only on court and trying to be there as much as possible.”

Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova have both had similar in recent times and said that she has really appreciated the support that fellow pros have given her as a result.

"We actually spoke with Aryna Sabalenka about this, she shared some moments with me as well. It just happened to her a little bit earlier,” Ostapenko said.

“I mean, this is a very bad thing that can happen, especially when you don’t expect it. When you expect it and you know that the person is not healthy or something, it's another thing – you know it.

“But to lose such a close person I think it's very hard.

“Some tennis players also texted me and this was really nice from their side. They told me that if I need anyone to talk to, they're always open.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7NzAUTJsZd/