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At times nervous and at other times annoyed, Sofia Kenin has still made a successful start to her Australian Open title defence.
Sofia Kenin admits she will have to find a way to keep her nerves in check if she is to become the first woman in five years to successfully defend a grand slam title.
The American was well below her best in a scratchy 7-5 6-4 opening-round win over local wildcard Maddison Inglis at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Kenin largely flew under the radar for much of last year's tournament, before downing Ash Barty in the semis and Garbine Muguruza in the final to win her maiden slam.
In doing so, the then-21-year-old became the youngest women's champion at Melbourne Park since Maria Sharapova in 2008.
There's no way the No.4 seed will be afforded the luxury of near-anonymity this time around.
"There were emotions, some tears and stuff," said the Russian-born American after the straight-sets win over the 23-year-old Inglis.
"I felt a little bit of pressure.
"She obviously came out swinging.
"I knew she was going to play well and I knew the crowd was going to be more or less behind her
"The first match at a slam is never easy.
"She's playing the defending champion, so of course she's more loose and I am tight.
"I wasn't there 100 per cent mentally, but a win is a win and I'll take it."
Kenin was at least able to report a clean bill of health after looking to have rolled her left ankle late in the first set.
But she will need to improve considerably on this effort, with hard-hitting Estonian Kaia Kanepi awaiting in the second round on Thursday.
"I was obviously quite annoyed the whole match," said Kenin.
"I felt like the first two points I started off well, then wasn't able to close out the first game.
"Obviously nerves happen and she played really well.
"But I was quite hard on myself today, quite annoyed."
The last woman to successfully defend a grand slam title was Serena Williams, who won back-to-back Wimbledon crowns in 2015 and 2016.
World No.130 Inglis is now 0-4 at the majors.