The 23-year-old is feeling different ahead of this year’s tournament, reserved and relaxed almost, or as relaxed as one can be in New York’s sprawling metropolis.

“Well, for sure last year I felt I had many things to defend, like World No. 1 position, all my points, and also the title itself,” Swiatek said.

“I felt like I have 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 like so high compared to last year. So I’m going to try to focus on getting everything step by step and not put too much baggage on my shoulders.”

Since winning the French Open this year, her fourth Roland Garros title in five years, Swiatek has struggled for form, losing to Yulia Putintseva in the third round at Wimbledon before taking bronze at the Olympics following a semi-final loss to Zheng Qinwen.

Her attempt to gain steam ahead of the final major of the year fell short as she lost in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals to eventual winner and rival Sabalenka.

It encouraged Swiatek to focus on herself this year and lower her expectations.

“Well, because they are a little bit lower because I know it’s been a really intense season, and after the Olympics, it hasn’t been kind of, you know, easy,” the World No.1 said.

“So I feel the best when I’m just focused on practicing and grinding on the court and really focus on just making my game better and not on the results. I’m just going to try to keep that mindset and that attitude, and yeah, then that’s it.”

“In 2022, for sure, that was the Grand Slam that I was least chilled at,” she explained. “Even though I won, I didn’t feel comfortable on the court at all.

“I didn’t feel like I can play my game naturally. So it would be stupid for me to expect that I’m going to feel it, you know, next years. US Open 2022 actually taught me that I can win even though I’m not feeling 100 per cent.”

“So I wouldn’t say now I’m relaxed, because it’s impossible to be relaxed in New York, especially with everything that’s going on around. It’s pretty loud here. In Cincinnati, for example, we could really focus and the priority every day was basically the practice.

“Here, you have so many activities off the court, you need to balance it wisely, and the practice is always going to be a priority, but you have so many things to also think about. So I wouldn’t say I’m relaxed, but for sure I’m trying to learn from past experiences. I feel like I’m maybe a little bit smarter and hopefully I’m going to be able to use that.”

The fates have been kinder to Swiatek in New York after some tough draws in the last year. She faces qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round, likely another in the second, and then could face the 25th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third.