Three-time defending champion Serena Williams and 2011 winner Novak Djokovic were announced as the top seeds at the 2015 US Open on Tuesday. It marks the first time the same man and woman have been the top seeds for three years in a row since Steffi Graf and Ivan Lendl, 1987-89.
The seeds were determined based on Monday’s ATP World Tour and WTA rankings,
In the women’s draw, world No. 1 Williams is looking to win her seventh US Open, which would surpass Chris Evert for the most US Open women’s singles titles in the Open era. A victory in Flushing Meadows would also tie Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 major titles and complete the calendar-year Grand Slam, last won in 1988 by Graf.
Following Williams at No. 2 seed is 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep. The remainder of the top four are No. 3 seed and 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova and No. 4 seed and 2014 US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki. Williams would not meet Halep until the final but could face either Sharapova or Wozniacki in the semifinal depending on which half of the draw they’re in.
Petra Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, will be seeded fifth, with 2015 French Open finalist Lucie Safarova seeded sixth. Former world No. 1 and US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka is seeded No. 20, 2011 champion Samantha Stosur No. 22, two-time US Open champion Venus Williams No. 23 and 2004 US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova is No. 30.
In the men’s draw, five-time US Open champion Roger Federer will be the No. 2 seed following his victory at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Sunday. Federer is seeded at the US Open for the 15th straight year, which surpasses Lendl for the second longest streak in the Open era, trailing only Jimmy Connors’ 18 consecutive years.
In addition to Djokovic and Federer, who won the tournament five straight years from 2004 to 2008, former US Open champions Andy Murray (2012), Rafael Nadal (2010, 2013) and Marin Cilic (2014) are all seeded in the Top 10 – Murray at No. 3, Nadal at No. 8 and Cilic at No. 9. 2001 US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt, playing for a final time in Flushing Meadows, is unseeded.
Murray comes into the US Open as the Emirates Airline US Open Series men’s champion and will attempt to set a record for the largest payout in tennis history. He would earn $3.3 million for winning the US Open and an additional $1 million for winning the US Open as Emirates Airline US Open Series champion. The Series champion for the women has not yet been decided.
Nadal would not meet a Top 8 seed until the quarterfinals at the earliest, meaning he dodges any potential blockbuster matchups with Djokovic, Federer or Murray until at least the quarterfinals. Kei Nishikori, who lost to Cilic in last year’s final, is seeded fourth, with reigning French Open champion Stan Wawrinka seeded fifth.
There are 19 different nationalities represented among the 32 seeded men, led by Spain with six. In the women’s draw, 20 nationalities are represented, with the United States and Russia each featuring four players. In the 14 years since the US Open began seeding 32 men and women in 2001, the No. 1 seed has won the men’s singles tournament six times and the women’s singles tournament on four occasions.
The singles draws for the 2015 US Open will be revealed live during an official draw ceremony on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The draw will be streamed live on USOpen.org.