After Her Loss, Carling Bassett Turns Again to Tennis With Renewed Vigor

Carling Bassett said Monday she is returning to tennis with renewed dedication and hopes of easing the pain of losing one of her closest friends, her father, to cancer.

Depressed and uninterested at her last tournament appearance in April, Bassett looked more like her old self as she defeated Catherine Tanvier of France, 7-5, 6-3, on the first day of the French Open.

It was no coincidence.

When she lost in the second round at Hilton Head Island, S.C., in early April, her father, John Bassett, was in the last throes of a long bout with cancer. He died less than two weeks ago, leaving his daughter looking for ways to cope.

“Two weeks ago I had to find something to occupy my mind, so I just kept on playing tennis and kept on the move,” she said. “I found I enjoyed it. It then became competitive, and I just kept on going. It was mind-boggling.”

Bassett is seeded No. 13 in the French Open. “No one thought I wanted to play here,” she said. “I knew I was going to play. You’ve just got to get out there. My family wanted me to do what was best. I thought this was best.”

The Bassett family is very close. John Bassett, a Canadian Davis Cup player in the 1950s and former owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League, followed Carling’s tennis exploits around the world, and father and daughter seemed to have a friendship beyond family ties.

“I had to think positively, I had so many things on my mind,” Carling said. “I have been so depressed that I just kept on playing tennis.”

Chris Evert Lloyd, the defending women’s champion, practiced with Bassett after their arrival from Toronto Saturday.

“This is really taking her mind off it, not being at home to dwell on it,” Lloyd said. “And she says she’s really into her tennis.”