NEW YORK, NY, USA - It had been a year since Sloane Stephens last stepped on court to play a match at the US Open, and the American had to admit: she didn't feel any different.

"I was a little bit nervous," she said after her first round win. "I think obviously it's never easy as an American playing in the US Open. I think I've felt worse nerves in that, playing here before in previous years. I thought that was okay that I was a little nervous today."

Perhaps it was that familiar feeling that helped her ease into her first match on the newly renovated Louis Armstrong Stadium against Russian Evgeniya Rodina.

"It was just loud. There was a lot going on: between the airplanes and the subway behind the court, the concessions being in the lower bowl, and people walking in the games at, like, 2-2, 3-3.

"It was fun to play first day on a brand-new stadium court. But there was a lot happening."

Commanding the microphone in the main press room on Monday, Stephens channeled the high-octane atmosphere that left journalists in laughing through her champion's presser last year.

"Between that and the shot clock, I got so much going on on the court! I'm trying to manage, like, eight different things, like, 'Oh, God, just relax a bit.'"

With this moment a year in the making, the often unflappable American was clearly relieved to cut through the noise and clear a path into the second round, citing the tough field when asked about World No.1 Simona Halep's shock loss to Kaia Kanepi.

"I think they're all good matches that are being played, like Kanepi. I don't want to play her in the first round of a Grand Slam! She's tough to play. So I understand. She played well today. She does on big stages. She plays amazing. That's obviously a really tough first match.

"It was unfortunate that Halep lost today. That's kind of how the game works."

In between match and media, the game gives way to fan interaction, something the defending champ explained with her signature charasmatic sarcasm.

"There was just a lot of people," she said of the post-match autograph seekers. "You don't want to say no. I like to sign all the kids. For some of them, it might be their first tennis match, like the kids that were at the very top dancing, I heard that was their first time at a match.

"I don't really sign the crazy, psycho fans that are adults and pushing the kids over. I normally skip them. For the little kids, just to have a good first experience, and get an autograph, It's cool for them. They like it. It may want to make them play tennis.

"I love giving a kid an opportunity to give them something to look forward to. I do my best with that."

The once indiscernable sea of tennis balls and sharpies now features an array of cell phones, the varying success of which, something the 25-year-old observes as an intersting generational gap.

"It's unorganized out there. If you got your phone out, quick selfie, I'm totally fine with it. Most of the time it's a parent or someone else who doesn't know how to work the phone. It's a mess most of the time.

"The younger kids, the kids from age probably eight to 15, they're ready. They're like, Okay, selfie. You're smiling. It's super easy. But then there's some that are just sloppy. Today I was yelling at the people because they were crushing a little girl. It's unorganized.

"You can't sign everyone, take everyone's selfie. You do what you can."

It got the job done on Day 1, and that this rate, there'll be more opportunities to catch Stephens for a selfie later on in the fortnight.