NEW YORK -- After eight months off following knee surgery, Lindsay Davenport was just happy to be back on the court. Then she started winning and her expectations changed.

"I think it started off that way where I didn't really know what to expect and wouldn't have been shocked if I had lost early in my first few tournaments," Davenport said. "You know, it's such a game of rhythm and confidence and whenever you step out for long periods of time you obviously lose those parts of the game. But after the first few tournaments where I did fairly well -- two semis -- that (feeling) kind of left, unfortunately. It's pretty fun to play and not really have many expectations."

And it's not just her own expectations. After winning her opening round match at the U.S. Open on Monday, Davenport said other players indicated they are happy to have her back so she could challenge the Williams sisters.

"A couple of people have said that," Davenport said after defeating Eva Dyrberg 6-2, 6-1. "I just say back to them, 'Well, you could have done it when I was gone.' "

It's a pressure Davenport doesn't intend to let affect her.

"I don't worry about that," she said. "I don't look at it like I'm the one that's supposed to do it. I think there are 126 other players in the draw. The responsibility is shared equally."

No. 3 Jennifer Capriati, who has not won a tournament since the Australian Open, sounds like she's hoping that someone else will take the pressure off.

"Maybe I was carrying the load on my back of being the only one who has a chance against the Williams'," Capriati told the Perth (Australia) Sunday Times recently. "But now I've put all that aside and I'm doing my thing and enjoying it again. ... Maybe now with Lindsay back and Martina Hingis coming back, it will be easier."

"I did read where she said that," Davenport said. "I don't really relate to that. If I lose to one of them, I could care less who plays in the finals or who then wins it." Davenport finished 2001 as No. 1, but had to pull out of final of the season-ending tournament with an injury in November. She held out hope until December that she would be able to play in the Australian Open. Instead, she watched the first of three Grand Slams she would miss in 2002 from a hospital bed.

"For about a half hour after I found out I needed surgery, I think I cried the whole drive home," Davenport said. "Then I was ready to go."

But it would be a while before she went anywhere. In addition to exercises, time in the pool and therapy for her knee, she was hooked up to a machine eight hours a day for the first eight weeks of her rehab. The machine bent her leg back and forth to strengthen it.

"That was absolutely the worst part and it always reminded me of what I was going through," she said.

"I try to look at it like that it was a blessing. I had to work so hard to get myself back on the court that it probably proved to myself how much I really did like playing and how much still I wanted to play or I certainly wouldn't have gone through everything I went through if I didn't plan on playing for a number of more years." She returned to competitive play in July at a Fed Cup qualifier. On a sweltering day in Missouri, she lost three pounds as she defeated Anna Smashnova, but seemed thrilled that her knee had held up. Next she headed home to California for the start of the hard-court season. She reached two semifinals and a final in California.

But she's still having trouble closing out matches. On Saturday, she was up 5-3 against Venus Williams in the Pilot Pen final. Then before she knew it, she dropped 10 straight games and lost 7-5, 6-0.

"I'm happy with the way I played the first set and my tactics," Davenport said. "I still need to clean up my game and focus on those close situations -- on closing those out. In the second set, my level dropped off a bit and she made less errors and before I knew it, it was 3-0. I think that was a huge improvement from a couple of weeks ago."

Davenport said she knows Venus will be tough to beat at the U.S. Open and she doesn't know what it will take to get her back to her previous level.

"I don't know if that takes, you know, beating a Williams or a very top player to then get me going or if it takes winning some more tournaments. I don't know.

"But I'm not there. I definitely have made huge strides getting there."

And her goals at the Open?

"I feel like if I keep up a good level of play, I'm a contender," she said. "If I am playing as well as I can, if I play at the level I know I'm capable of, I think I can do very well."

Cynthia Faulkner is the tennis editor for ESPN.com.