Federer Named Top Seed at U.S. Open

Roger Federer, the reigning Wimbledon champion and five-time U.S. Open champion, was named the No. 1 seed at the 2012 U.S. Open Tuesday.

The Open begins Aug. 27

Federer, the world No. 1-ranked player and a 17-time Grand Slam champion, is followed by No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the defending U.S. Open champion; No. 3 Andy Murray of Great Britain, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and 2008 US Open runner-up; and No. 4 seed David Ferrer of Spain.

Rafael Nadal, the world No. 3 and 2010 Open champ, will miss the Open with tendonitis in his knee.

Federer, 31, is 56-7 this year leading up to the U.S. Open. He has won six titles in 2012, including three ATP World Tour Masters Series events, along with his seventh Wimbledon title. On Sunday, Federer beat Djokovic, 6-0, 7-6 (7) to win the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.

He broke Pete Sampras’ record of most weeks at No. 1 this year, surpassing Sampras’ record of 286 total weeks. Federer won the U.S. Open title from 2004-08. He is tied with Sampras and Jimmy Connors for five Open titles—the most  in the Open Era.

John Isner will be the highest-seeded American at No. 9. 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick is seeded No. 20, Mardy Fish is seeded No. 23, and Sam Querrey is seeded No. 27.

The singles draws for the 2012 US Open will be revealed live during an official draw ceremony on Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

2012 US Open Men’s Singles Seeds:

1.    Roger Federer, Switzerland
2.    Novak Djokovic, Serbia
3.    Andy Murray, Great Britain
4.    David Ferrer, Spain
5.    Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, France
6.    Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic
7.    Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina
8.    Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia
9.    John Isner, United States
10.  Juan Monaco, Argentina
11.  Nicolas Almagro, Spain
12.  Marin Cilic, Croatia
13.  Richard Gasquet, France
14.  Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine
15.  Milos Raonic, Canada
16.  Gilles Simon, France
17.  Kei Nishikori, Japan
18.  Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland
19.  Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany
20.  Andy Roddick, United States
21.  Tommy Haas, Germany
22.  Florian Mayer, Germany
23.  Mardy Fish, United States
24.  Marcel Granollers, Spain
25.  Fernando Verdasco, Spain
26.  Andreas Seppi, Italy
27.  Sam Querrey, United States
28.  Mikhail Youzhny, Russia
29.  Viktor Troicki, Serbia
30.  Feliciano Lopez, Spain
31.  Julien Benneteau, France
32.  Jeremy Chardy, France

(USOpen.org contributed)