Queens Tribune

The USTA announced on Tuesday that reigning Frech Open and Wimbledon champion and new world No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain and reigning French Open champion and world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia will be the top seeds at the 2008 U.S. Open in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.

The 2008 U.S. Open will be played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Aug. 25 to Sept. 7.

Nadal, the Olympic gold medalist in men’s singles in Beijing, is the No. 1 seed at the U.S. Open for the first time. He will be followed by No. 2 Roger Federer of Switzerland, the four-time defending U.S. Open champion; No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the reigning Australian Open champion; No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain; and No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia. Americans Andy Roddick of Austin, Texas, and James Blake of Tampa, Fla., are seeded 8 and 9, respectively.

Ivanovic, who won her first Grand Slam title at this year’s French Open, is followed by No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia; No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, the 2004 U.S. Open champion; No. 4 seed Serena Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a two-time U.S. Open champion and winner of eight Grand Slam singles titles overall; and No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia, the Olympic gold medalist in women’s singles. American Venus Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is seeded 7.

No. 6 seed Dinara Safina of Russia clinched the 2008 Olympus U.S. Open Series Bonus women’s title, and will play for a potential $1 million in bonus prize money at the U.S. Open. The men’s winner will be crowned following this week’s Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, Conn.

Nadal, 22, has won eight titles this year including the 30th of his career at the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati. He will attempt to become the first man to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969. On Monday, the five-time Grand Slam champion took over the No. 1 world ranking after holding the No. 2 ranking for a record 160 weeks.

Ivanovic, 20, has won two titles this year, including her first Gland Slam at Roland Garros. She also reached the final of the 2008 Australian Open and the 2007 French Open.

For 2008, the U.S. Open followed the ATP and WTA Tour rankings to determine the men’s and women’s singles seeds. This is the seventh consecutive year that the U.S. Open has seeded 32 players in both singles events.

The singles draws for the 2008 US Open will be conducted Thursday, Aug. 21 at 11 a.m. at the TimesCenter in New York City.