Coco Gauff to face stiff challenge in US Open title defence

No1 Iga Swiatek and last year's runner-up Aryna Sabalenka part of a strong field in New York

USA's Coco Gauff during a practice session prior to the start of the 2024 US Open in New York. AFP

Coco Gauff will face one of the biggest challenges of her career when she begins her US Open title defence, headlining a wide open women's field that includes world No1 Iga Swiatek and last year's runner-up Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff plays France's Varvara Gracheva in the opening round and hopes to put a series of frustrating performances behind her - including early exits from Toronto and Cincinnati - to get back on track.

"I feel like it was a blessing in disguise I lost so early (in Cincinnati), because I was able to actually train, which I hadn't been able to," said Gauff, who competed in the Paris Games.

"I do my best results when I come off a training block. I was able to train for a good week and a half and obviously still have a couple more days to do that."

Gauff could meet Sabalenka in the semi-finals, with the Belarusian hungry for the trophy after coming close but never getting the title within her grasp.

She reached at least the semi-final stage of the tournament over the last three years and has endured tough defeats in New York.

"Those tough losses definitely motivated me a lot to hard work and to improve things which didn't work in the previous years," said Sabalenka.

Swiatek's US Open title defence last year fell flat when she lost in the fourth round but now says she is pressure free.

Swiatek, the tournament's 2022 champion, was upset by Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko last year, and as a result lost her world No1 ranking to big-hitting Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

But Poland player regrouped to win the season-ending WTA Finals to wrest back the top ranking, which she has held onto since.

"Last year I felt I had many things to defend, like the world number one position, all my points, and also the title itself," she said in New York.

"I felt like I had a lot of baggage on my shoulders. This year it's a little bit different. This year I'm just trying to focus on what should I do tennis-wise to play the best game possible.

"My expectations are not as high compared to last year. I'm going to try to focus on getting everything step by step."

Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu insists she is in fine shape heading into the major despite playing fewer than expected matches this year.

Raducanu won the US Open three years ago but didn't even play in Flushing Meadows last year because of injuries. The British player, 21, has played fewer than 30 matches this year but is glad with her preparation.

“Even when I won the US Open, I only played a few tournaments that year,” Raducanu said. “Yes, they were closer together, but I’m not in any big rush to play those. I think I’d rather target tournaments and play the tournaments that I’m entered in.”

After losing in the fourth round of Wimbledon in July in her home Grand Slam, Raducanu chose not to play in the Olympics and made just one appearance on the North American hard-court swing, losing in the third round in Washington.

She decided not to play in Canada - where she was born and holds a passport - and then opted to return to Britain to practice, rather than attempt to play any more tournaments ahead of her return to New York, where she will face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round.