Tue Aug 19 13:20:52 2008

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Nadal, Ivanovic are top seeds for U.S. Open

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New York, NY (Sports Network) - World No. 1s Rafael Nadal of Spain and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia have been installed as the top seeds at the U.S. Open, which will commence Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

There are 10 Grand Slam champions among the seeded players, including the likes of Nadal, Ivanovic, Swiss Roger Federer, Americans Venus and Serena Williams and Andy Roddick, and Serbian Novak Djokovic. Federer held the men's world No. 1 ranking for 237 consecutive weeks before being supplanted by Nadal this week.

Nadal had been No. 2 for a record 160 straight weeks.

This will mark the first time that Nadal is the top seed at a Grand Slam event. The Spaniard will try to become the first man to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year since Aussie legend Rod Laver turned the trick in 1969.

As far as the seeds are concerned, the reigning Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal is followed by the reigning four-time U.S. Open champion Federer, the Australian Open titlist Djokovic, Spaniard David Ferrer and Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Federer beat Djokovic in last year's U.S. Open final to corral his 12th career major title.

The men's top-10 seeds are rounded out by Brit Andy Murray, Argentine David Nalbandian, the 2003 U.S. Open winner Roddick, his fellow American James Blake, and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

The top-seeded Ivanovic, the reigning Roland Garros champion and Aussie Open runner-up, is followed by fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic, 2004 champion and last year's U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, Serena, Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva of Russia, French Open and Olympic runner-up Dinara Safina of Russia, Venus, Olympic bronze medalist Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Russian Anna Chakvetadze. Kuznetsova was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Belgium's Justine Henin, who retired from tennis earlier this year. Safina won the U.S. Open Series leading up to the Open and would claim $2.5 million with a title in Flushing.

The seven-time Grand Slam titlist Venus is a two-time U.S. Open champ and the reigning two-time Wimbledon titlist, while the eight-time major champion Serena is also a two-time U.S. Open winner. The sisters are also both former world No. 1s.

Former top-ranked American star and former U.S. Open champ Lindsay Davenport will be the 23rd seed among the women in New York.

Injured former world No. 1 Russian star Maria Sharapova will miss the U.S. Open due to a shoulder injury. Sharapova captured the 2006 U.S. Open, this year's Aussie Open, and is a three-time major champ.

The singles draws will be revealed on Thursday.