American tennis star Sofia Kenin has admitted that the postponement of the Australian Open will be an ‘advantage’ as she prepares to defend her grand slam title.

The 22 year-old, who won her first major last year, will be looking to do the same again next month. 

The first grand slam event of the 2021 season has been pushed back from the end of January and will now start on February 8.

But Kenin has remained optimistic, saying: “For sure advantage. It’s gonna be exciting. But of course different pressure since I’m like the defending champion.”

The star is currently competing in the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open to kick-off the WTA season.

At a pre-event press conference, she told Essentially Sports on the Australian Open: “I’m just going to try to get that out of my head and then you know, just take one match at a time hopefully, I’ll have a good run there.”

During the 2020 season she also won the Lyon Open and reached the final of the French Open.