Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-08-22 From: Xinhuanet

BEIJING, Aug.22 — Three-time defending champion Roger Federer was seeded No. 1 at the US Open for the fourth consecutive year, and Justine Henin topped the women’s seedings on Monday.

Thirteen players who have won Grand Slam titles are among the 32 men and 32 women seeded for the last major tournament of the year.

That includes men’s No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the three-time French Open champion, and No. 5 Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 US Open and lost to Federer in last year’s final.

Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 3, Nikolay Davydenko - involved in a match that sparked an ATP betting probe this month - is No. 4, and James Blake is No. 6.

Defending champion Maria Sharapova is seeded No. 2 in the women’s field, followed by No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova - the 2004 US Open champion - and No. 5 Ana Ivanovic.

Sharapova and Kuznetsova are two of the seven Russian women who were seeded, joined by No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 7 Nadia Petrova, No. 14 Elena Dementieva, No. 15 Dinara Safina and No. 27 Vera Zvonareva.

Sisters Serena and Venus Williams, who each won the US Open twice, were the only American women seeded, with Serena at No. 8, and Venus at No. 12. Roddick and Blake were the only American men in the seedings.

Federer, bidding for his 12th Grand Slam title, will try to become the first man since the 1920s to win the US championship four years in a row.

Henin won the US Open in 2003 and was the runner-up to Sharapova last year.

The US Open followed the ATP and WTA rankings to determine seedings. The draw for the tournament is today, and play begins next Monday.

In New Haven, Connecticut, on Monday Tommy Robredo and Dementieva won their opening matches at the Pilot Pen, and Americans also made a mark before rain stopped play.

Robredo, the No. 2-seed in the men’s draw, advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Marc Gicquel of France.

The Spaniard, ranked No. 8 by the ATP, played four consecutive claycourt tournaments following Wimbledon, and said he needs these matches to get ready for the US Open.

“On hard court, I wasn’t winning a lot of matches these last two weeks,” he said. “For me, I think it’s good to be here and get the confidence back.”

Dementieva, seeded sixth in the women’s draw, beat Mara Santangelo of Italy, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. The Russian used strong ground strokes to overpower Santangelo and overcome nine double faults. “Sometimes I feel like I need to take more time before I go to serve. I feel like my serve is getting better.”

The only other seeded woman to play Monday, No. 7 Sybille Bammer, beat American Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-4, 6-2. American Ashley Harkleroad advanced over Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus, 6-1, 6-0

On the men’s side, Americans Mardy Fish and Vincent Spadea also won.

Fish moved into the third round with a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-0 win over Filippo Volandri of Italy. Spadea, 33, advanced with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 first-round win over Russian Evgeny Korolev.