U.S. Open 2023: Challenges and Successes of the Defending Champions

This year, the Grand Slams have written different stories for title defenders: While Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek successfully defended their titles in Melbourne and Paris, respectively, Marketa Vondrousova suffered an early defeat at Wimbledon and appeared visibly nervous after the match. Sabalenka follows in the footsteps of Victoria Azarenka, who last defended a Grand Slam title on her first attempt in 2013. The pressure of defending 2,000 ranking points is enormous, especially when doing so for the first time as a titleholder. Here, Coco Gauff faces this challenge at the U.S. Open, a tournament that has not seen a female title defense since 2014. Gauff began her title defense promisingly with an effortless victory over Varvara Gracheva, despite a challenging season and emotionally taxing defeats in previous tournaments. In an interview, she emphasized that she consciously avoids the term "pressure" and views the title defense as a new opportunity rather than a burden. The following day, Novak Djokovic, the men's singles title defender, also entered the interview room with a confident demeanor, even though he is returning to New York without a Grand Slam title for the first time in 14 years. Djokovic has successfully defended Grand Slam titles multiple times, and his attitude of "Why stress over a victory lap?" also inspired Gauff. Many former champions, including Marketa Vondrousova and Iga Swiatek, have confirmed that the pressure of defending a title can often be paralyzing. Swiatek, who felt the pressure at last year's U.S. Open, now focuses more on her tennis game. Naomi Osaka, on the other hand, often struggled with the fear of losing important ranking points. Among those who have yet to defend a title is Daniil Medvedev. The Russian joked that he might need to put more pressure on himself to perform better. In recent times, only Carlos Alcaraz has successfully defended two consecutive titles, including Wimbledon, where he emphasized that every match is a "war" to be won. Coco Gauff has managed to avoid an early exit with a successful start. Her goal now is to use the built-up momentum at Arthur Ashe Stadium to keep her competitors at bay – true to her new motto: "Whoever defends has already won.