US Open: Why is it so difficult to win a second grand slam?

By Issy Ronald, CNN

Updated 1038 GMT (1838 HKT) August 26, 2022

Only 11 of the 45 first-time grand slam winners since 2000 have won a second in the same year.

(CNN)WhenEmma Raducanu won the US Open last year, she dropped her racket, sank to the floor and covered her face in her hands.

It was a familiar scene, one repeated throughout the years by first-time grand slam winners; Daniil Medvedev also fell to the floor as he won his maiden grand slam a day after Raducanu, as did Dominic Thiem a year before that. Even 23-time grand slam winner Serena Williams, who will «evolve away from tennis» after this tournament, seemed shocked when she won her first at the 1999 US Open. But after this euphoric moment, there often seems to be a gap before that pinnacle can be reached again — 34 of the 45 first-time grand slam winners since 2000 have endured a wait of at least a year for another, if they won a second title at all. Williams herself had to wait two-and-a-half years to win her second grand slam. Read More'Depth of self-belief unlike anything else'Alongside Williams, tennis has been dominated for 20 years by players for whom losing seems more difficult than winning — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.Winning considerably more than one grand slam has become normalized, even expected, somewhat obscuring the difficulties of claiming that first one.A then 18-year-old Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open without dropping a set.In tennis, a lonely individual sport requiring constant travel for 10 months of the year across different time zones and environments, the psychological pressure of winning a grand slam is different compared to other sports.«A lot of times when there's social support, I look to my left, I look to my