Simona Halep says there is extra pressure on her as the second seed at this year's U.S. Open.
"It's a little bit of pressure," she said of her first experience as a No. 2 seed at a Grand Slam. "I can say more pressure because everyone is telling me that I have chance to win this title.
"I have to take match by match and to see if I can win more matches here. Every match like today was tough, and every match is tough here. I have just to try my best always and to do everything on court to win."
A year ago, Halep had just broken into the Top 20, an ascent that has carried on this year with WTA titles in Doha and Bucharest, as well as reaching her first Grand Slam final at the French Open.
Halep played her first match on Ashe Stadium, dropping a first-set tiebreak against wild card Danielle Rose Collins before dominating the rest of the match.
The 22-year-old Romanian attributed her shaky start to getting used the stadium, which is the biggest in tennis.
"Always it's hard to start the tournament, and today was, you know, a big challenge for me because I played the first match of this tournament on center court," she said. "I think after first set did I very well."
Asked about the difference between Ashe Stadium and Court Chatrier at Roland Garros, Halep said, "It's bigger and it's more blue."
"The pressure is the same. It's the biggest court so it's a little bit different, because like I said, you see—wherever you look you see people," she added.
Halep plays Jana Cepelova in the second round.