Can Heather Watson come back from a set behind? The Briton was hoping to reach the second week at Flushing Meadows for the first time in her career?

"It's so much of a target," said Watson, who could meet Eugenie Bouchard in the next round if she progresses today. "It was my goal this year and I haven't accomplished that yet, but I still have one more opportunity."

You can tweet your tennis chit-chat using the hashtag #bbctennis. There won't be any fanfare on their arrival (cutbacks), but they will be warmly welcomed on this grey August day.

Cirstea has too much power for Watson, who plonks a return into the net to present her rival with three set points. Oof - but that's ugly from the Romanian as she overcooks an overhead. One set point disappears. But the Romanian classily ends the set with an ace.

If Watson is concerned at falling a break behind, she isn't showing it. At 15-0, the Briton double faults and then proceeds to give her opponent hope with a netted backhand for 30-30. Cirstea turns the screw, pouncing on a Watson serve to put the Briton on the backfoot and, ultimately, gain a break point.

Danger averted for Watson, though, thanks to a tasty serve out wide. The Romanian finding the lines, however, and another Watson double fault brings up a second break point. Eek. Watson holds firm, though - forehand crosscourt winner - and an ace takes her to advantage.

Third break point and this time Watson is blown away by her opponent's power, a backhand volley drifts wide and Cirstea closes in on the first set.

Cirstea overpowering Watson from the back of the court, although she did show weakness when double faulting at the opening point. The Romanian fires a forehand winner to merrily skip towards her chair at the changeover with a 40-15 hold.

It's a beautiful late morning in the Big Apple, and the compact Court 13 seems to be a delightful place to watch tennis, the sort of sporting arena where you are within touching distance of the players.

Both players turn the aggression-meter up a notch in this game. Cirstea with a pin-point accurate forehand for a break point and Watson meekly surrenders, coughing up a double fault at the worst moment.

A second serve ace down the 'T' from Cirstea for 40-15 suggests that the Romanian's serve packs a deceptive punch. She concludes a trouble-free hold with an ace and even though Cirstea weighs in at a feather-light 59kg, the 24-year-old's serve has a lot of muscle behind it.

Cirstea's radar needs readjusting, screwing a simple forehand wide to leak an easy point for 0-30. Big serving from Watson, the Briton cool and confident. An ace eases to within a point of a hold and another mammoth serve out to the wings wraps up an easy hold.

Watson immediately on the front foot, thumping a forehand return back towards Cirstea and the Romanian can only go long. First blow Watson, but the Romanian overhauls the deficit - a mixture of fine net play and a couple of Watson errors.

The wait continues for the start of this match on Court 13, but the umpire has called "time" which means it should only be a matter of seconds until the match gets under way. Cirstea to serve first.

Watson's opponent, Romania's Sorana Cirstea, is ranked 80th in the world but reached a career-high 21 last summer. The 24-year-old's best performance at Flushing Meadows was in 2009, when she reached the third round.

In terms of head-to-heads, Watson has beaten the Romanian in two of their previous encounters.

More importantly, according to the WTA website,, external Cirstea describes herself as "ambitious, stubborn and happy." So there.

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"I love New York, it's one of my favourite cities," Heather Watson told BBC Sport's Russell Fuller ahead of this clash.

"One reason is because I won the juniors here and every time I come back I use it as motivation. This is the first time I've been ranked above Cirstea, but I'm feeling very positive. This is a big opportunity for me now and I just want to make the most of it."

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Heather Watson's coach has started spreading the word that his student could, one day, be top of the heap.

"Can she be number one? Why not?" said her Argentine coach Diego Veronelli.

"People must think I'm crazy but if I don't believe in her then I have to say, 'OK, I think she can be 30 in the world.' And once she gets there it's like my job is done. No, let's go for more."

The cup of confidence is now overflowing for Watson after a difficult 2013 that saw a bout of glandular fever curtail her rise to a career high-ranking of 39 and, ultimately, led to her fall to 119 in the world by the end of the season.

But the Briton, playing more aggressively these days, has climbed 116 places in the rankings since February and is now back up to 45 in the world.

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Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Flushing Meadows

It's a scorchingly hot morning in New York and Heather Watson has already been out on court getting a feel for conditions. She was hitting on Court 13 at 9.30am local time, with her opponent Sorana Cirstea on the other side of the net.

It's not unheard of that prospective opponents practice on the same court but it always feels a bit odd to observers. Cirstea has been struggling for form in 2014 and a former British number one watching from courtside had serious worries about the Romanian's forehand. "Heather needs to slice low to her forehand, she'll struggle to pick it up."

Hello! This is live text commentary of Heather Watson's first-round match against Romania's Sorana Cirstea. If you're looking for minute-by-minute updates on the Great British Bake Off, you've come to the wrong place. There will be no baking innuendos here.

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What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Heather Watson was dreading playing at the US Open. She was low on confidence, low on preparation and low in the rankings. But those tennis blues have melted away and the Briton is ready to make a brand new start of it, in old New York.