Simona Halep is not playing this week at Indian Wells in spite of a family tragedy; she's playing because of it.
The world's No. 3 player is playing at the BNP Paribas Open with a heavy heart, tennis.com reported. Just prior to the start of Indian Wells, Halep's cousin, 29-year-old Nicia Arghir, hanged himself in his home office in the Romanian province of Costanta.
Simona Halep to enter Indian Wells despite suicide in her family
No foul play had been suspected initially, but the investigation is ongoing. Speculation had been growing that Halep was considering whether to withdraw.
She explained to tennis.com why she honored her commitment to the event.
"It's a painful situation for everyone, for me and for my family," she said, according to tennis.com. "I just wanted to play this tournament because he loved tennis. He played many years tennis. So I just decided to stay here, because I think it was a little bit easier for me to pass this situation. It's hard to speak about this, and I just want to dedicate this match to him, because, he loved tennis and he was very talented."
Boredom, language barrier leads to split between Simona Halep and coach Wim Fissette
The Romanian star revealed how close she was to her cousin through her inability to talk.
"I don't think I want to speak about this. It's too painful. It's a big tragedy in my family."
Halep has managed to win her first two matches - both in three sets - over Daria Gavrilova and No. 26-seeded Varvara Lepenchenko to advance to the fourth round of the tournament.
Halep had been rusty coming into the match, according to si.com. She withdrew from the Qatar Open with a rib injury and just began serving again when she arrived at Indian Wells. In her opening match, she served seven double-faults before finding the range and winning the last two sets.
Being on the court is therapy for Halep's psyche, but it may be her lack of tennis preparation that might curtail her stay.
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