NEW YORK(SMI-WIRE,08.23.16) The USTA today announced that world No. 1 and defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray have been named the top two seeds, respectively, in men’s singles at the 2016 US Open, headlining the four US Open and five Grand Slam champions to earn Top-10 seeds. The 2016 US Open will be played Aug. 29-Sept. 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The US Open Men’s Singles Championship is presented by Mercedes-Benz.

In addition to Djokovic (2011, 2015) and Murray (2012), former US Open champions Rafael Nadal (2010, 2013) and Marin Cilic (2014) are seeded in the Top 10 – Nadal at No. 4 and Cilic at No. 7. 2015 US Open semifinalist Stan Wawrinka is seeded third. Wimbledon semifinalist Milos Raonic, of Canada, is seeded fifth. Kei Nishikori, a US Open finalist in 2014, is seeded sixth. Juan Martin Del Potro, who won the 2009 US Open, was awarded a wild card into the main draw and is unseeded.

Djokovic, 29, is 51-5 this year and won his 11th and 12th Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and French Open, respectively. Murray comes into the US Open as the reigning Wimbledon champion and the won the gold medal in men’s singles at the Rio Olympics.

Four American men are seeded at this year’s US Open—No. 19 Steve Johnson, No. 20John Isner, No. 26 Jack Sock, and No. 29 Sam Querrey.

Five-time US Open champion and world No. 4 Roger Federer will not be competing in this year’s US Open to recover from a knee injury, while world No. 8 Tomas Berdych withdrew from the US Open this weekend due to appendicitis. 

For 2016, the US Open followed the Emirates ATP Rankings released Monday to determine the men’s singles seeds. This is the 16th consecutive year that the US Open will seed 32 players in singles.

The singles draws for the 2016 US Open will be revealed live during an official draw ceremony on Friday, August 26, at 11:30 a.m. ET at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Defending US Open champions Novak Djokovic and Flavia Pennetta will make an appearance at the event.

222016 US Open Men’s Singles Seeds 

1.    Novak Djokovic, Serbia

2.    Andy Murray, Great Britain

3.    Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland

4.    Rafael Nadal, Spain

5.    Milos Raonic, Canada

6.    Kei Nishikori, Japan

7.    Marin Cilic, Croatia

8.    Dominic Thiem, Austria

9.    Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France

10.  Gael Monfils, France

11.  David Ferrer, Spain

12.  David Goffin, Belgium

13.  Richard Gasquet, France

14.  Nick Kyrgios, Australia

15.  Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain

16.  Feliciano Lopez, Spain

17.  Bernard Tomic, Australia

18.  Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay

19.  Steve Johnson, United States

20.  John Isner, United States

21.  Ivo Karlovic, Croatia

22.  Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

23.  Kevin Anderson, South Africa

24.  Lucas Pouille, France

25.  Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany

26.  Jack Sock, United States

27.  Alexander Zverev, Germany

28.  Martin Klizan, Slovakia

29.  Sam Querrey, United States

30.  Gilles Simon, France

31.  Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Spain

32.  Benoit Paire, France