World number one Iga Swiatek says she reminds herself that it is impossible to continually play at the level she achieved during her 37-match winning run earlier this year.
Swiatek reached the second week at the US Open for only the second time after Saturday's 6-3 6-4 win over Lauren Davis and has moved into title favouritism, creating a level of perceived pressure.
That comes amid a run of form where the 2020 and 2022 French Open champion has been far from the levels achieved during her 37-match winning streak which ended in July at the hands of Alize Cornet at Wimbledon.
Since then, Swiatek has only won seven of 10 matches. Swiatek's victory over Davis marked the first time since the winning streak that she has managed three straight victories.
The Pole's hard-court form line has not been compelling either but the exit of Serena Williams along with top seeds Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa and Simona Halep has thrust her into US Open favouritism.
But the 21-year-old is trying not to put any extra pressure on herself with that in mind, nor re-discovering the form she displayed earlier in the year.
"Honestly I didn't even focus on that cause I still remember how it is to lose," Swiatek told reporters. "After the tournament in Cincinnati [when she lost to Madison Keys in August], I knew like it's not the end of the world that I'm losing in third round.
"It's not like the whole universe changed so right now I'm always going to be in quarter-finals or finals or whatever, win tournaments. I tried just to remind myself that it's kind of normal, that it's impossible to play always on the same level.
"Here I just took it match by match. I wasn't expecting maybe too much because of the losses, so that's good. It's not like I lost confidence or something. I still know anything can happen on these tournaments."
Swiatek admitted she lacked rhythm against Davis, who had led 4-1 in the second set, before the Pole fought back to win the final five games.
The 21-year-old won 21 of the final 25 points of the match, securing her 53rd victory of the 2022 season, closing in on Ash Barty's 57 from 2019.
"It wasn't as smooth as in first and second round," Swiatek said. "I'm pretty happy I made it through and could close it in second set and come back. That was pretty important for me.
"For sure she played totally differently than most of the players, which threw me a little bit off the rhythm. But I'm happy I was fighting till the end."
Daniil Medvedev credited his ability to "block out the noise" as crucial in getting his ATP Finals campaign up and running with a straight-sets victory over Alex de Minaur.
Medvedev, who lost his opening game of the tournament to Taylor Fritz, returned to winning ways with a 6-2 6-4 triumph over the Australian in 78 minutes on Tuesday.
The Russian cut a frustrated figure in his defeat to Fritz on Sunday, breaking his racket and was docked a point after serving a third consecutive double fault during the encounter.
However, the fourth seed produced an expertly measured performance, winning 20 out of 31 baseline points in the opening set to claim the early advantage.
The second set was more evenly contested, but Medvedev secured a crucial break point in the ninth game, going on to seal his first top 10 win on hard courts since March.
"After the last match I was too tired to fight mentally the way I do and so, during the match, when it doesn't work your way, you want to win and when you start losing you get frustrated," Medvedev said.
"So I went into this match thinking, if I lose I go home on Thursday for sure and if I win then I have the chance to have a good feeling. I tried to hit some shots and it worked well and I'm ok with it.
"A lot of football players do it [block the noise]. It's more about social media and for sure after my performance with Taylor and some of my comments ... I tried to read it less.
"I went into this match trying to block the noise even from myself, so no tantrums and I really didn't care what was happening on the court."
Medvedev will seek to bolster his hopes of progressing from the John Newcombe Group when he takes on Jannik Sinner next, with the Italian in action against Fritz later on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Cool, calm and collected
Medvedev kept his hopes of sealing a second ATP Finals crown alive with a composed display against De Minaur, improving his record to 45-19 for the season.
While the Russian produced more unforced errors (18) than De Minaur (15), Medvedev showed his quality by hitting 24 winners, 14 of which came with his forehand.
Medvedev also claimed his sixth top 10 win of 2024, while also improving his head-to-head record against his Australian opponent to 7-3, avenging his defeat in the French Open round of 16 earlier this year.
Osaka has set sights on grand slam title – Mouratoglou
Naomi Osaka is targeting a fifth grand slam win of her career, so says Patrick Mouratoglou.
Osaka, who has won the Australian Open twice and the US Open twice, will head into 2025 as the world number 59.
The former world number one has had a stop-start career in recent years, as she took time away from the sport to focus on her mental health, before then giving birth.
She has taken part in 18 WTA Tour-level competitions this season, with her best effort a run to the quarter-finals at the Qatar Open in February.
Mouratoglou, a former coach of Serena Williams, has been helping to guide the 27-year-old, and he explained Osaka has set her sights on another major crown.
"[With] Serena, motivation was extremely key after she beat the record of [Martina] Navratilova and Chris Evert [to reach 23 Grand Slam singles titles]," he told Sky Sports.
"But I think we worked so well together because I think we were both motivating each other all the time. I knew exactly how to talk to her. She knew exactly how to talk to me. I was pushing her, she was pushing me and that was like that every day.
"So that's why it works so well. For Naomi, it's different because she really feels she has to give and do much more. She had two very difficult years.
"First, she had this mental health issue, and then she had a baby. So she's been out, and then she restarted the year this season and it was not a very good season.
"Before the first tournament we did together she was 80 in the world and she knows she can do much better than that.
"She's extremely motivated to come back and win grand slams, and it's a pleasure for me because that's the dream of every coach: to have a player who has that level of motivation."
ATP Finals: In-form Zverev edges Rublev to kickstart hat-trick hunt
Alexander Zverev insisted improvements needed to be made despite kickstarting his ATP Finals campaign with a straight-set triumph over Andrey Rublev on Monday.
Zverev, who is going in search of a third crown at the year-end tournament, emerged a 6-4 6-4 victor in 72 minutes in Turin to claim a Tour-leading 67th win of 2024.
Rublev, however, got off to a blistering start to the encounter, winning each of his 13 points on serve, only for a lapse in the seventh game that allowed Zverev to take the opening set.
Zverev continued to trade blows with his opponent, but he claimed the decisive break point in the ninth game to maintain his dominant record in opening round-robin matches at the event (6-1).
"I'm looking forward to the next few matches, and hopefully I can improve on a few more things because I don't think this match was perfect to be honest," Zverev said.
"I still think there's a few more things that can be better. I missed a few balls from the baseline and I feel I wasn't as sharp movement-wise as I would like to be."
Zverev joined Casper Ruud at the top of the John Newcombe Group after he had beaten Carlos Alcaraz earlier on Monday, with the Norwegian up next for the world number two.
Data Debrief: Alexander the Great
After winning the ATP Finals in 2018 and 2021, Zverev's performance against the big-hitting Rublev was a sign of his intentions to complete a hat-trick of victories at the year-end tournament.
The German struck 22 winners compared to his opponents' 10, along with converting both break points he was presented with.
Excluding the Laver Cup, Zverev also claimed the 50th ATP top 10 win of his career, becoming the first player born since 1990 to achieve the feat.
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