Reigning Australian Open women's singles champion Sofia Kenin is no stranger to showing her emotions on the court, now she has revealed that she does it off the court as well.

Kenin, this year's No.4 seed in the women's draw, prevailed over Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis, but not before an almighty scare in the 7-5 6-4 win.

The 22-year-old said she was "annoyed" with her performance and revealed that she had shed some tears in the lead-up to the clash against Inglis.

"Yeah, emotions, some tears and stuff. I felt a little bit pressure," she said.

"She obviously came out swinging. I knew she was going to play well. I knew the crowd was going to be more or less behind her. I'm happy I had some crowd behind me.

"Obviously I was nervous, first match at a slam is never easy. Obviously when she was playing, she's playing the defending champion, so of course she's more loose. I obviously am tight. I wasn't there 100% mentally."

Kenin added that getting nervous prior to matches isn't a new phenomenon for her, but says that the pressure of being the defending champ makes it worse.

"I obviously get nervous before every match. I guess here is a little bit more since I guess obviously from last year, memories and everything," she said.

"I have to try to put my emotions aside for a match. I let it out before the match, then as the match starts, it's more or less fine.

"I don't feel as nervous going to the match. I have to somehow get better at that if I want to do well here."