Tearful Sara Errani became the US Open's highest-seeded casualty on Thursday and admitted filling the famous shoes of the absent Maria Sharapova in the New York pecking order was overwhelming.

The 26-year-old Errani, at her highest-ever seeding of fourth at a Grand Slam, was bumped up when golden girl Sharapova pulled out with a shoulder injury.

It was a promotion that left last year's US Open semifinalist and 2012 French Open runner-up dizzy with pressure and in tears in the media room.