The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has handed Serena Williams a boost for the US Open after giving her a seeding nine places higher than her current ranking.
Williams, 36, is set to play in the New York major for the 18th time in her career and the first since giving birth to her daughter. Players are usually assigned their seeding based solely on their ranking, but the USTA have made an exception. Following in the footsteps of the Wimbledon championships, who gave Williams a position of 25th.
“After balancing a variety of factors, including her return to competition following the birth of her daughter, her recent hard-court performance this summer and recognition of her achievements at the US Open, the USTA has moved Serena Williams’ seeding nine spots, from 26 to 17,” USTA Managing Director of Corporate Communications Chris Widmaier said in a statement.
“We feel this is the appropriate decision, one that recognizes Serena and is fair to the remaining seeded players.”
Since returning to the tour in March, Williams has won 12 out of 17 matches played. Her stand out achievement of the season so far was at Wimbledon, where she reached the final. The American was denied the trophy by Angelique Kerber, who prevailed in straight sets. Williams’ preparations for the US Open has been far from ideal. Losing in the first round in San Jose to Johanna Konta followed by a second round exit in Cincinnati to Petra Kvitova.
This year’s women’s draw will be headlined by Simona Halep, who is the first Romanian to be the seeded first in the Open Era at the US Open. Halep is yet to reach the final of the tournament. Caroline Wozniacki is seeded second, followed by defending champion Sloane Stephens. The quartet is completed by Kerber. Meaning that the top four players are all current grand slam champions.
Elsewhere, Cincinnati Open champion Kiki Bertens is seeded 13th and Aryna Sabalenka is at 26th. It is the first time Sabalenka has been seeded in a grand slam draw.
Women’s seeds
1. Simona Halep, Romania
2. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
3. Sloane Stephens, United States
4. Angelique Kerber, Germany
5. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
6. Caroline Garcia, France
7. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
8. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
9. Julia Goerges, Germany
10. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia
11. Daria Kasatkina, Russia
12. Garbiñe Muguruza, Spain
13. Kiki Bertens, Netherlands
14. Madison Keys, United States
15. Elise Mertens, Belgium
16. Venus Williams, United States
17. Serena Williams, United States
18. Ashleigh Barty, Australia
19. Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia
20. Naomi Osaka, Japan
21. Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania
22. Maria Sharapova, Russia
23. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic
24. CoCo Vandeweghe, United States
25. Daria Gavrilova, Australia
26. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus
27. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
28. Anett Kontaveit, Estonia
29. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
30. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
31. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia
32. Maria Sakkari, Greece
Nadal leads the men
https://twitter.com/usopen/status/1032003240815218694
Spanish clay-court king Rafael Nadal heads the men’s section. He is already a three-time champion in New York, but is yet to win the title two consecutive years in a row. Something that will change should he triumph this year.
Hot on Nadal’s tale will be Roger Federer, who last taste of success at the event was all the way back in 2008. The Swiss world No.2 is one of only three players to have won the tournament on five separate occasions. The others are Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors.
Elsewhere in the top 10 seeds, Novak Djokovic is placed in sixth. The Wimbledon champion has laid out his challenge for the title with a straight sets win over Federer in the Cincinnati final on Sunday. The Serbian has a win-loss record of 8-1 on the North American hard courts so far this month.
Juan Martin del Potro, who won the 2009 US Open, had a top three seeding in a major for the first time in his career. Just below him are Alexander Zverev and 2017 finalist Kevin Anderson.
The US Open main draw will get underway on Monday
Men’s seeds
1. Rafael Nadal, Spain
2. Roger Federer, Switzerland
3. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
4. Alexander Zverev, Germany
5. Kevin Anderson, South Africa
6. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
7. Marin Cilic, Croatia
8. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
9. Dominic Thiem, Austria
10. David Goffin, Belgium
11. John Isner, United States
12. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain
13. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina
14. Fabio Fognini, Italy
15. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
16. Kyle Edmund, Great Britain
17. Lucas Pouille, France
18. Jack Sock, United States
19. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
20. Borna Coric, Croatia
21. Kei Nishikori, Japan
22. Marco Cecchinato, Italy
23. Hyeon Chung, South Korea
24. Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia and Herzegovina
25. Milos Raonic, Canada
26. Richard Gasquet, France
27. Karen Khachanov, Russia
28. Denis Shapovalov, Canada
29. Adrian Mannarino, France
30. Nick Kyrgios, Australia
31. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
32. Filip Krajinovic, Serbia
