The longest-established and most prestigious event in world squash, the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 will be staged at the city's new ECHO Arena Liverpool from 10-12 May, following qualifying and early rounds at the Liverpool Cricket Club from 6 May.
In some ways it seemed typical that the Frenchman had not thought much about the psychology of defending the sport's most prestigious title.
Yet the world No3 from Aix-en-Provence will approach this year's championships knowing better than anyone that mind games influence the destiny of major titles - so blanking it may have been skilful too.
Gaultier thought intently about winning the World Open and twice got as far as the final hurdle. His approach was more relaxed leading up to last year's British Open in Manchester - and he became the first French winner in its 80-year history.
"Winning the British was a dream of mine - it's my biggest win ever," Gaultier said. It was also a dream he had previously experienced, as a junior, which helped take some of the tension away.
Still, the feeling of trying to win a big title is not at all like the feeling of defending it, so whilst acknowledging that the difference between the two needed addressing, he wasn't going to get too focused on it.
“I didn't think about how I will take it,” he said. “I don't know. There are not many tournaments that I win and have to defend titles!
“Probably my coach and I will talk about it. But I won't be thinking about defending something. I'm going to try to win something, you know. I'll try to think it's a new thing to win.”
That's not just a mental device, it's an accurate description in quite specific ways. This time he will be competing in May, not September, and in a quite different ambience at the hugely impressive ECHO Arena Liverpool - and the opposition will likely be different too.
Last time Gaultier overcame Englishmen Jonathan Kemp and Adrian Grant; Egyptian Amr Shabana; and France's Thierry Lincou. It was a great effort to get the better of his more senior compatriot in the final and the world number one in the semis.
This time though there will be another Egyptian, Ramy Ashour, the reigning ATCO Super Series Finals champion and the brightest new star in a decade, contending for the title.
Nor should he rule out some of the other usual suspects - two former British Open champions, David Palmer and Nick Matthew; one nearly champion in James Willstrop; and one still-could-be champion in Karim Darwish.
Can Gaultier fight them off? Much will depend on his recovery from a wrist injury which spoiled the first three months of his year. He took two weeks off but the pain returned and he then took another three weeks off which he believes may have solved the problem.
There have been injury problems too for Ashour, who nevertheless won the Tournament of Champions in New York, PACE Canadian Classic and Hurghada International - while Shabana, who finished 2007 with five successive titles and exhaustion, has looked generally unimpressive and his form is very much an unknown quantity.
If Gaultier doesn't win again, his eight-month tenure will have made him the briefest British Open champion, but don't count on that being the Frenchman's latest record - it is already a tournament where he has repeated his dreams.
Promoted by internationalSPORTgroup on behalf of England Squash, the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 is supported by title sponsor Dunlop, the Liverpool Culture Company, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the ATCO Group.
Tickets for the Dunlop British Open – Liverpool 2008 can be booked online at www.iSPORTticketing.com, by telephone on 0870 220 0735 or, for further information, e-mail