British eyes will be trained firmly on Andy Murray on Monday when he begins the defence of his US Open title.

But Murray's presence in New York is not the only aspect of this year's tournament which is of British significance. Laura Robson will be the first British woman to be seeded at a grand slam tournament for 26 years, dating back to Jo Durie at the Australian Open in 1987.

Robson burst into the British public's consciousness when she won the junior singles at Wimbledon as a 14 year-old in 2008. As we are prone to do in this country, we didn't just pin the tag of "saviour of British women's tennis" on to this precocious talent, we hurled it at her so ferociously that there was a danger of knocking her over.

Robson has made steady progress up the world rankings in the past few years - she finished 2010 at No.206, 2011 at 131 and 2012 at 53 before reaching a career high of 27 last month. By the age of 19, she has racked up some impressive results, with victories over grand slam title winners Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams to her name, while she also recorded her first win over a top-five player in May when she beat Agnieska Radwanska, the world No.4, at the Madrid Open.

Robson's seeding at No.31 for the US Open next week is a significant moment for women's tennis in Britain. After the disappointing results of our female players in grand slam events over the past decade - prior to Robson's emergence, a British in the third round was seen as something of a miracle - no longer should it be a major surprise for a female British player to be gracing the second week of a grand slam. In fact, it will be expected.

This expectation brings with it its own problems, though. To date, Robson has excelled in her position as underdog. She seems to thrive on this status, going into matches against higher-ranked players with nothing to lose and everything to gain. If she emerges the winner, she is showered with plaudits, if she loses, well, that was predicted.

Robson has already shown something of an inability to dispose of opponents whom she is ranked above and who, on paper, she should beat comfortably. Her impressive performances against top-20 ranked players this season have been interspersed with losses against players such as Canada's Eugenie Bouchard and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan who are ranked outside the top 100. In Robson's defence, she is still young and has relatively little experience of professional tennis at the highest level. But being the seeded player, rather than the underdog, is a wholly different experience and one with which many players have struggled to cope.

Women's tennis used to be lacking so severely in depth that 6-0 sets in the early rounds of grand slam events were commonplace. The sport has now changed though, and, while still a considerable distance behind the men in terms of strength-in-depth, huge improvements have been made in recent years.

At Wimbledon this summer seeded players Maria Sharapova, Sara Errani, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki, among others, lost to unseeded opponents.

Being a seeded player means you go into the tournament with a huge target on your back. Every lower-ranked opponent treats a match against a seed as their final; bringing their best performance to the court.

This expectation of success can prove crippling for some players and the predictions that have been spouted by players and pundits alike that Robson will become a top-10 player are by no means a given. Firstly, it must be seen how she will deal with being the favourite to win more matches than she will lose, and consistently reach week two of the grand slam tournaments.

Her talent will only take her so far. If she is unable to deal with the pressure which a seeded berth brings, and it is something with which many players struggle, then she may not necessarily reach the heights that have been so readily forecast. Several women have struggled with the pressure which was heaped upon their shoulders as they rose up the rankings. Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina are just a few who almost visibly crumbled under the burden of being world No.1.

It is often said that it is easier to get to the top than to stay there. The most impressive thing about the big four in men's tennis is their consistency in the grand slam tournaments. Of the last 34 events, only one has been won by someone outwith this near impenetrable group: when Juan Martin del Potro won the US Open in 2009.

Robson has shown signs that she can continue her rise up the rankings. However, many factors come into it and dealing with the pressure of expectation is not something that can be practised. It remains to be seen if Robson can win as the favourite as she has as the underdog.