Djokovic, Serena Lead 2016 U.S. Open Singles Draws

The USTA has announced that world number one and defending U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Andy Murray have been named the top two seeds, respectively, in Men’s Singles at the 2016 U.S. Open, headlining the four U.S. Open and five Grand Slam champions to earn Top-10 seeds. On the women’s side of the draw, world number one and six-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams was named the top seed in women’s singles at the U.S. Open. For 2016, the U.S. Open followed the Emirates ATP Rankings released Aug. 22, 2016 to determine the men’s singles seeds and the WTA rankings released Monday as well to determine the women’s singles seeds. This is the 16th consecutive year that the U.S. Open seeded 32 players in both singles events.

The 2016 U.S. Open will be played Aug. 29-Sept. 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. The singles draws for the 2016 U.S. Open will be revealed live during an official draw ceremony on Friday, Aug. 26, at 11:30 a.m. ET at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

In addition to Djokovic (2011 & 2015) and Murray (2012), former U.S. Open champions Rafael Nadal (2010 & 2013) and Marin Cilic (2014) are seeded in the top 10, Nadal at four and Cilic at seven. Last year’s U.S. Open semifinalist Stan Wawrinka is seeded third. Wimbledon semifinalist Milos Raonic of Canada is seeded fifth. Kei Nishikori, a U.S. Open finalist in 2014, is seeded sixth. Juan Martin Del Potro, who won the 2009 U.S. Open, was awarded a wild card into the main draw and is unseeded.

The 29-year-old Djokovic is 51-5 this year and won his 11th and 12th Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and French Open, respectively. Murray comes into the U.S. Open as the reigning Wimbledon champion and the won the Gold Medal in Men’s Singles at last week’s Rio Olympics.

Four American men are seeded at this year’s U.S. Open: Number 19 Steve Johnson, number 20 John Isner, number 26 Jack Sock, and number 29 Sam Querrey.

Five-time U.S. Open champion and world number four Roger Federer will not be competing at this year’s U.S. Open, as he recovers from a knee injury, while world number eight Tomas Berdych withdrew from the Open this weekend due to appendicitis.

The year 2016 will mark the fifth time that Serena has been the top seed at the U.S. Open. She won the title on three of the prior occasions (2002, 2013 and 2014). Following Serena will be the number two seed Angelique Kerber of Germany, the 2016 Australian Open champion; number three Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, the 2016 French Open champion; number four Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, a 2016 Australian Open semifinalist; number five and 2015 U.S. Open semifinalist Simona Halep of Romania; number six and two-time U.S. Open champion Venus Williams of the United States; number seven and 2015 U.S. Open finalist Roberta Vinci of Italy; and number eight Madison Keys of the United States, a 2015 Australian Open semifinalist. Crowned U.S. Open Champion in 2004, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, is seeded ninth, and 2011 champion Samantha Stosur of Australia, is seeded 16th.

Last year, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta won her first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open, defeating compatriot Roberta Vinci. Pennetta then announced her retirement following the final. This year, Serena is looking to break the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era. At Wimbledon, Williams tied Steffi Graf for the most major titles when she won her 22nd Grand Slam singles title. 

Number 24 Sloane Stephens and number 29 Coco Vandeweghe join the Williams Sisters and Keys as seeded American players.

Victoria Azarenka, who would have been the number seven seed, will not be competing in this year’s U.S. Open after announcing her pregnancy.

2016 U.S. Open Men’s Singles Seeds
1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
2. Andy Murray, Great Britain
3. Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland 
4. Rafael Nadal, Spain
5. Milos Raonic, Canada
6. Kei Nishikori, Japan
7. Marin Cilic, Croatia
8. Dominic Thiem, Austria
9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France
10. Gael Monfils, France
11. David Ferrer, Spain
12. David Goffin, Belgium
13. Richard Gasquet, France
14. Nick Kyrgios, Australia
15. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
16. Feliciano Lopez, Spain
17. Bernard Tomic, Australia
18. Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay
19. Steve Johnson, United States
20. John Isner, United States
21. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia
22. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
23. Kevin Anderson, South Africa
24. Lucas Pouille, France
25. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany
26. Jack Sock, United States
27. Alexander Zverev, Germany
28. Martin Klizan, Slovakia
29. Sam Querrey, United States
30. Gilles Simon, France
31. Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Spain
32. Benoit Paire, France

2016 U.S. Open Women’s Singles Seeds
1. Serena Williams, United States
2. Angelique Kerber, Germany
3. Garbiñe Muguruza, Spain
4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
5. Simona Halep, Romania
6. Venus Williams, United States
7. Roberta Vinci, Italy
8. Madison Keys, United States
9. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
10.Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
11. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
12. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
13. Johanna Konta, Great Britain
14. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
15. Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland
16. Samantha Stosur, Australia
17. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
18. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic
19. Elena Vesnina, Russia
20. Kiki Bertens, Netherlands
21. Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania
22. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
23. Daria Kasatkina, Russia
24. Sloane Stephens, United States
25. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland
26. Caroline Garcia, France
27. Laura Siegemund, Germany
28. Sara Errani, Italy
29. Coco Vandeweghe, United States
30. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
31. Misaki Doi, Japan
32. Timea Babos, Hungary