British number one Emma Raducanu says “using the positive energy from the place” is the best way to approach the defence of her US Open title.
Raducanu, 19, stunned the world last year by winning the New York major as a previously unknown qualifier.
Seeded 11th now, she starts against France’s Alize Cornet in Tuesday’s night session (00:00 BST, Wednesday).
“You’re just starting from scratch. I need to discard any pressures there are from the outside,” she said.
“You face the person in front of you and I know people will want to beat me. But I’ve got to stay on it and stay super focused.”
Raducanu is one of three Britons playing on Tuesday, with seventh seed Cameron Norrie and 20th seed Dan Evans starting their bids for the men’s singles.
Norrie, who is looking to follow up his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, faces unpredictable Frenchman Benoit Paire at 16:00 BST, while Evans plays Czech Jiri Vesely at about 18:00 BST.
The trio are aiming to join Andy Murray, Harriet Dart and Jack Draper in reaching the second following their wins on Monday.
Discussing his targets in New York, world number nine Norrie said: “Just the same goal, to try to make the second week again and then go from there.”
