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