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Federer and Safina Named 2009 US Open Top Seeds

FLUSHING, N.Y. — The USTA announced today that five-time defending US Open champion and world No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland and world No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia will be the top seeds at the 2009 US Open in men’s and women’s singles, respectively. The 2009 US Open will be played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., August 31 - September 13.

Federer, winner of the French Open and Wimbledon this summer, is the No. 1 seed at the US Open for the fifth time. He will be followed by No. 2 Andy Murray of Great Britain; No. 3 Rafael Nadal of Spain, the reigning Australian Open champion; No. 4 Novak Djokovic of Serbia; and No. 5 Andy Roddick of Austin, Texas.

Safina, a three-time Grand Slam singles finalist, is followed by No. 2 seed and defending champion Serena Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., winner of 11 Major singles titles; No. 3 seed Venus Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a two-time US Open champion and winner of seven Major singles titles overall; No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia, the women’s singles gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics; and No. 5 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the 2008 US Open runner-up.

Federer, 28, has won four titles this year including his first French Open title to become the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam. He then won his 15th career Major singles title at Wimbledon to break Pete Sampras’ record. On Sunday, he won his 61st career singles title at the Olympus US Open Series event in Cincinnati. Federer will attempt to win three Major singles titles in the same year for the fourth time in his career.

Safina, 23, has won three titles this year, including her back-to-back victories at Rome and Madrid. She also reached the final of the French Open for the second consecutive year, as well as the Australian Open.

For 2009, the US Open followed the ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings to determine the men’s and women’s singles seeds. This is the eighth consecutive year that the US Open has seeded 32 players in both singles events.

The singles draws for the 2009 US Open will be announced live on the US Open Draw Show on ESPNews, Thursday, August 27 at 12 PM ET. Chris McKendry will host the show along with U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe and U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez serving as lead analysts.

Women

1. Dinara Safina, Russia
2. Serena Williams, United States
3. Venus Williams, United States
4. Elena Dementieva, Russia
5. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
7. Vera Zvonareva, Russia
8. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
9. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
10. Flavia Pennetta, Italy
11. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
12. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
13. Nadia Petrova, Russia
14. Marion Bartoli, France
15. Samantha Stosur, Australia
16. Virginie Razzano, France
17. Amelie Mauresmo, France
18. Na Li, China
19. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland
20. Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain
21. Jie Zheng, China
22. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovak Republic
23. Sabine Lisicki, Germany
24. Sorana Cirstea, Romania
25. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia
26. Francesca Schiavone, Italy
27. Alisa Kleybanova, Russia
28. Sybille Bammer, Austria
29. Maria Sharapova, Russia
30. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine
31. Elena Vesnina, Russia
32. Agnes Szavay, Hungary

Men

1. Roger Federer, Switzerland
2. Andy Murray, Great Britain
3. Rafael Nadal, Spain
4. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
5. Andy Roddick, United States
6. Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina
7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France
8. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia
9. Gilles Simon, France
10. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
11. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
12. Robin Soderling, Sweden
13. Gael Monfils, France
14. Tommy Robredo, Spain
15. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic
16. Marin Cilic, Croatia
17. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic
18. David Ferrer, Spain
19. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland
20. Tommy Haas, Germany
21. James Blake, United States
22. Sam Querrey, United States
23. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany
24. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain
25. Mardy Fish, United States
26. Paul-Henri Mathieu, France
27. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia
28. Victor Hanescu, Romania
29. Igor Andreev, Russia
30. Viktor Troicki, Serbia
31. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
32. Nicolas Almagro, Spain

Posted on August 25, 2009
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