2018 U.S. Open Tennis Officially Announces Seeds: Nadal & Federer Lead, Djokovic Top Eight

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action against Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in their match in the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 17 August 2018.  EPA-EFE/TANNEN MAURY

 

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

The U.S. Open formally announced its list of seeds on Tuesday afternoon, although a quick gander at the rankings would have been enough for anyone to decipher the same information back on Monday morning. Whatever the case, the bottom line is this: Rafael Nadal is obviously No. 1, Roger Federer is second, Juan Martin Del Potro and Alexander Zverev round out the top four, and Novak Djokovic is in the top eight. Djokovic’s first-ever Cincinnati title propelled him from 10th to sixth in the rankings, meaning he cannot run into anyone in the top four until at least the U.S. Open quarterfinals. That’s good news for Djokovic and great news for the top four.

 

Meanwhile, a loaded 25-32 group features Milos Raonic, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, and Fernando Verdasco. They could meet top eight seeds during third-round action at Flushing Meadows.

 

Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka will be especially dangerous floaters as unseeded entrants.

 

Here are the 32 seeds, shown in the groups in which they will be placed in the draw during the highly anticipated ceremony Thursday afternoon.

 

1

Rafael Nadal

 

2

Roger Federer

 

3-4

3) Juan Martin Del Potro

4) Alexander Zverev

 

5-8

5) Kevin Anderson

6) Novak Djokovic

7) Marin Cilic

8) Grigor Dimitrov

 

9-12

9) Dominic Thiem

10) David Goffin

11) John Isner

12) Pablo Carreno Busta

 

13-16

13) Diego Schwartzman

14) Fabio Fognini

15) Stefanos Tsitsipas

16) Kyle Edmund

 

17-24

17) Lucas Pouille

18) Jack Sock

19) Roberto Bautista Agut

20) Borna Coric

21) Kei Nishikori

22) Marco Cecchinato

23) Hyeon Chung

24) Damir Dzumhur

 

25-32

25) Milos Raonic

26) Richard Gasquet

27) Karen Khachanov

28) Denis Shapovalov

29) Adrian Mannarino

30) Nick Kyrgios

31) Fernando Verdasco

32) Filip Krajinovic

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.