After a year of triumph and turbulence there has been a solemn start to 2016 for Davis Cup winner James Ward.
This week he diverted from Melbourne, - where the Australian Open qualifying begins on Wednesday - to spend a few days in Perth, although for reasons far removed from those explaining Andy Murray's presence in the city, which has been hosting the Hopman Cup.
Ward was there to attend the funeral of Darren Tandy, his Australian coach, who on Christmas Eve lost his battle with cancer.
After a year of triumph and turbulence there has been a solemn start to 2016 for Davis Cup hero James Ward
Ward was in Perth to attend the funeral of Darren Tandy (right), his coach, who passed away on Christmas Eve
His passing is why the 28 year-old Londoner will always be left with the most bitter-sweet memories of 2015. No active British player has put in such stalwart service over the years in the national cause of the Davis Cup, but that commitment and the unfolding tragedy involving his mentor took its toll on his performances as an individual.
As a result Ward began the year with a personal ranking of 156 and it leads to him admitting that 'I may need to become more selfish' when it comes to tackling this season.
It is a small consolation that some sporting reviews of the year named him as one of British sport's unsung heroes, as without his epic singles victory over American number one John Isner in the first round Britain would, in all likelihood, never have won the Davis Cup.
That win, 15-13 in a deciding fifth set, did not prove to be a platform for breakthrough success, although some of the contributing factors remained unknown to the wider world.
It was only after reaching the third round of Wimbledon and getting to a career high ranking of 89 that Ward began to fear that all was not right with his coach.
'I knew that he was suffering a few symptoms and had experienced some discomfort, but it was only when we got to Flushing Meadows that the extent of things became clear,' recalls Ward, the son of London cabbie, speaking from Perth.
The British Davis Cup team including Ward pose with the trophy after beating Belgium in the final
Ward battled to an epic singles victory over American No 1 John Isner in the first round of the Davis Cup
It was in New York, ahead of the US Open, that Tandy suffered a stroke and investigations showed that it was related to advanced cancer of the colon.
'The whole thing was a real shock and something that was very distracting and worrying. Darren and his family wanted to keep the matter private so obviously I respected that, but at the same time people kept asking why I was losing all the time (he lost nine consecutive first rounds post-Wimbledon) and you can't give the full reasons why.
'I've been in Perth this week to attend the funeral, see Darren's family and pay my respects. I've been practising as well but left Andy alone as he has had his own stuff to get on with at the Hopman Cup.'
As Ward emphasises, his personal travails paled into significance by comparison. It was only when – now sadly apparent he would not be working with Tandy again - he teamed up with coach Morgan Phillips, the former British player from Croydon, that his form began to recover.
Jamie Murray, Andy Murray, Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Ward, Dom Inglot and captain Leon Smith take a selfie
The 28-year-old is hoping to recapture his form following the death of his Australian coach Darren Tandy
By then it was too late to regain his starting place as second singles player in the Davis Cup team. That went to Dan Evans in the semi-final and Kyle Edmund in the final, although it was Ward who would have been entrusted with the deciding rubber in Ghent, if it had come to that.
As the proud owner of a 10-9 record in Davis Cup singles, he admits that the omission still rankles: 'If I wasn't disappointed then there would be something wrong, there's no point having someone on the team who doesn't care about whether they play or not and you've got to put a brave face on it.
'It's great to have that medal. I have put a huge amount into the Davis Cup over the years and put a lot of points on the board for Leon (Smith, the Captain), I was the only player apart from Andy and Jamie this year to win a point for us.
Ward is bidding to qualify for the Australian Open main draw where he could represent Britain
'Perhaps what some people forget is that playing in a tie can effectively take out as much as three weeks from your schedule as an individual, maybe two weeks before and one week after.
'I won a Challenger event in India in October but had done a huge amount of travelling, and then only went to play in South America on clay before the final because that seemed the best way to make the team.
'Maybe in the future I need to become a bit more selfish and do what's best for me rather than what other people tell me to do.'
His chronic need of a rest led him to decline an invitation to train with Murray in Dubai during December and stay at home. An obsessive Arsenal fan, one Davis Cup spin-off was an invitation to the Directors' Box at the Emirates to watch them play Manchester City before Christmas where, to his evident pleasure, he was sought out by Arsene Wenger.
'He certainly knows his tennis and obviously watches it a lot on TV. He was very interested in how we use statistics in tennis and his knowledge was very impressive.'
This week, however, it is back to the less glamorous habitat that Ward knows only too well, the hard school of qualifying events, with three rounds to get through if he is to win a place in the Australian Open main draw.
The Brit reacts after losing against Canada's Vasek Pospisil in the third round of Wimbledon last year
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