Posted at 1:16 p.m., Monday, August 20, 2007
Tennis: Federer, Henin get No. 1 seeds for U.S. Open
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Three-time defending champion Roger Federer was seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open for the fourth consecutive year, and Justine Henin topped the women's seedings today.Thirteen players who have won Grand Slam titles are among the 32 men and 32 women seeded for the last major tournament of the year.
That includes men's No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the three-time French Open champion, and No. 5 Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open and lost to Federer in last year's final.
Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 3, Nikolay Davydenko — involved in a match that sparked an ATP betting probe this month — is No. 4, and James Blake is No. 6.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova is seeded No. 2 in the women's field, followed by No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova — the 2004 U.S. Open champion — and No. 5 Ana Ivanovic.
Federer, bidding for his 12th Grand Slam title, will try to become the first man since the 1920s to win the U.S. championship four years in a row.
Henin won the U.S. Open in 2003 and was the runner-up to Sharapova last year.
The U.S. Open followed the ATP and WTA rankings to determine seedings. The draw for the tournament is Wednesday, and play begins next Monday.
