'PRESSURE IS A PRIVILEGE': EXPLORING THE STRUGGLES OF ONE-TIME SLAM WINNERS
- Darren Parkin
- 3 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Madison Keys' popular Australian Open triumph was one of the great moments on the women's tour in recent years. A talented veteran who always seemed to have that level of success in her.
But what happens next? It’s perhaps less crucial for Keys, who is beyond the halfway point of her terrific career at 30 years of age, and her experience probably allows more freedom from the burdens of pressure and attention that have likely impacted some of the younger generation after a breakthrough title.
In the last decade, 18 women have won maiden Grand Slam titles, with only eight of those 18 going on to claim another.
18 first-time winners in 39 slam events is a remarkably high number.
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Every now and then, you get the generational talent who takes hold, such as Naomi Osaka and Ash Barty, and in recent times, Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka, but the story of the rest is fascinating.
For some, it was a moment at the end of a great career that capped off the journey, such as Flavia Pennetta's US Open title, and the Australian Open crown won by Caroline Wozniacki in 2018.
For others, like Sofia Kenin (2020 AO), Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open), Bianca Andreescu (2019 US Open), Jeļena Ostapenko (2017 French Open), Elena Rybakina (2022 Wimbledon), Sloane Stephens (2017 US Open) and Markéta Vondroušová (2023 Wimbledon), the stories have been more curious.
Bad luck, injuries, coaching changes, illness and a litany of other factors have made those moments so far fleeting.
Does success, particularly when it comes early in a career, create its own challenges? Now, everyone would like to find out, but let’s look at Emma Raducanu first.
The only qualifier to win the US Open in history, and the first British woman since the mid-70s to claim a major title.
Raducanu has said previously in interviews that she sometimes wishes her whirlwind US Open triumph of 2021 never happened, before immediately catching herself.
"That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment," Raducanu said. "Anything can come my way, I will take it for what I have right now because this is the best thing in the world. I promised myself that, on the court that day. Since then, I've had a lot of setbacks, one after the other.
"I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it's not easy. And sometimes I think to myself, I wish I'd never won the US Open, I wish that didn't happen. Then I am like, remember that feeling, remember that promise, because it was completely pure."
Raducanu has only once reached the fourth-round of a Slam since that US Open, and the pressure of performance in the face of injuries has taken its toll.
"I very much attach my self-worth to my achievements. If I lost a match, I would be really down, I would have a day of mourning, literally staring at the wall. I feel things so passionately and intensely," the former world No.10 shared.
"When you are on the tour, giving interviews, you don't want to give that information out, what you are going through, how little you are practising. You don't want to show your cards to your competitors.
"I was under so much pressure to perform, people had no idea what was going on, and I had to have this façade, to keep everything inside. It has been really hard. And then to be scrutinised for it when they don't know what is going on. I am very young and still learning and making mistakes. It is a lot harder when you are making mistakes in front of everyone, and everyone has something to say about it."
Sofia Kenin was another who admitted to feeling the pressure after a maiden title. After a breakthrough slam at 21 at Melbourne Park, she admitted to being suffocated by the pressure a year later, often playing through tears.
"I feel like everyone was always asking me, 'Do you see yourself getting there and winning again?' Kenin said.
"The Australia trip, I feel like that was something that I had my eye on. I knew I was going to have pressure.
"I knew I was going to have emotions, nerves, everything all together. I felt really nervous. I haven’t felt my game for I don’t know how long."
Kenin has won just one match at the Australian Open in the five years since, and her only trip past the fourth-round of a major after that triumph was a run to the final of the French Open that same year.
Bianca Andreescu was the first Canadian woman to win a major when she prevailed at the 2019 US Open. Having defeated Serena Williams in straight sets, she also became the first teenager to win a Slam title in 13 years.
Since that historic moment, serious injuries and form fluctuations have played a part, with the now 24-year-old only moving past the third-round in one Slam event since.
Andreescu recently reflected on how that US Open success changed her expectations of herself.
"Even the celebration after the final. I had a good time, but I just wish I savoured it a lot more. And as weird as it sounds, I think the reason that I didn’t was because in the back of my mind, I thought I was going to keep winning. On the one hand, that year was insane. Unreal. Every day was a new, crazy experience that I’d never experienced before. Like, how is this my life?" she said.
"But on the other hand, it was also like I was getting used to something? If that makes sense. I thought winning was going to be my normal. I mean, if somebody’s on a 17-match win streak, you just think they’re gonna keep winning, right? But no."
The crushing pressure of not meeting expectations and a love for the game led Andreescu to take an extended break from the sport.
The Canadian has turned the corner and is on the road back.
"There was a time when I lost my joy in tennis. But I found it again. And I learned that I will always love tennis deep in my heart, no matter what. It has given me so much. So much that whenever I leave the tunnel and step out onto the court, I always feel a bit of that magic from before. I still think that anything is possible."
Jeļena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, and recent winner of the Stuttgart title, spoke this week about the freedom she had eight years ago, and how she has worked hard to recapture that after an unexpected Slam title.
"At that time, I was probably fearless, but I didn’t have that much experience," Ostapenko said a few months ago in Doha. "I think honestly, now I’m a better player, and mentally as well. Getting a bit older and more mature I think is going to help me more than it did after that year."
Sloane Stephens lost eight consecutive matches and didn’t record a victory for four months after her 2017 US Open triumph, with the 32-year-old reflecting on some sage advice which has helped her take on her struggles since that amazing run at Flushing Meadows.
"There’s one quote that has really stuck with me: 'Pressure is a privilege.' Billie Jean King once told me that, and I try to remember her words in important situations," she said.
Anyone who climbs the mountain is a champion, and reaching the top is probably the most difficult part. Staying there might be just as hard because the hunter becomes the hunted.
And when that moment comes early, the challenges players face in the aftermath might be something they aren’t always prepared for.
Once the lights dim on the parade, what happens next? The tour keeps moving, and the hurdles keep coming.
Nine active players are on the women’s tour with one career Slam. Who will be the first to two?
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