Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu paid a virtual visit to the Hospital for Sick Children on Tuesday afternoon, sharing what it was like to win last year’s U.S. Open and how she keeps morale high during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the broadcast, shown in each patient’s room and facilitated through a chat with child life specialist Katie Brazel, Andreescu discussed how she uses creative visualization to stay motivated and reach her goals.

“Prior to the U.S. Open, when I was 16, I actually wrote myself a cheque for the amount of money the U.S. Open offers, and I just kept visualizing myself actually holding up that trophy and that cheque. And crazy enough, I put the year 2019 on it when I was 16.”

While social distancing has been hard on everyone, she said the key is to focus on things you can control.

“We have the option to either leave the house and help the virus spread, or to stay home and contribute to stopping the virus from spreading. It’s as simple as that.”

She says it also helps to reflect each morning on things she’s grateful for: “Just those little things really make a difference.”

With access restricted at the hospital because of the coronavirus risk, several other celebrities have paid virtual visits, including actor Ryan Reynolds, Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews, astronaut Chris Hadfield and Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio.

Brazel said the hospital opted for virtual visits to replace those that would usually happen in person, such as visits from the Raptors.

“You visualize what you want, and you basically feel that feeling and manifest it,” said Andreescu, who was born in Mississauga. “You close your eyes, visualize a TV screen in front of your eyes and you portray what you want to happen.

“We try to create experiences for kids that would replicate a typical aspect of their lives, like holidays and birthdays,” Brazel told the Star. “Then we also try to create special events for patients and families given that they often miss out on the more typical things, like their friends’ birthday parties.

“Virtual connectivity is our main way we enable our patients to reach into the outside word, which is really important psychologically speaking, because they’re physically stuck here with us. So we want to give them an opportunity to mentally and psychologically leave this building and not be a sick kid, but be a kid.”

CORRECTION — APRIL 15, 2020: This story has been edited from an earlier version that said Bianca Andreescu’s virtual visit was facilitated by one of the hospital’s therapeutic clowns.

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