novak djokovic and roger federer top seeds at US Open 2015

The USTA today announced that world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon finalist Roger Federer, and defending champion Marin Cilic lead the men’s singles field for the 2015 US Open Tennis Championships. The field features five former US Open champions, including Djokovic (2011), five-time champion Federer (2004-08), two-time champion Rafael Nadal (2010, 2013), Andy Murray (2012), and defending champion Cilic (2014).

Each of the world’s top 99 men received direct entry into the US Open, representing 40 countries.

The US Open 2015

The 2015 US Open will be played Monday, August 31, through Sunday, September 13, 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.

Leading the entry list is Djokovic, the Serbian world No. 1 who has reached the US Open final five times, winning the title in 2011. He won his eighth and ninth major singles titles this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
World No. 2 Federer, of Switzerland, is the all-time leader with 17 major singles titles, and was bidding for his eighth Wimbledon title this month before falling to Djokovic in the final. Federer  competing for his sixth US Open title, which would surpass Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors for the most US Open men’s singles titles in the Open Era.

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Great Britain’s Murray, the world No. 3, won the US Open in 2012 after winning the Olympic gold medal in London. He also won Wimbledon in 2013, where he became the first British man in 77 years to win the championship, and reached the Australian Open final this year, losing to Djokovic.

Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss world No. 4 and a 2013 US Open semifinalist, won his first major singles championship at the Australian Open in 2014, joining Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open) and Cilic (2014 US Open) as the only men outside the “Big Four” of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray to win a Grand Slam since the 2005 French Open. Wawrinka also won this year’s French Open title, defeating Djokovic.

Filling out the field’s top 10 are: No. 5 Kei Nishikori, of Japan, the 2014 US Open finalist; No. 6 Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, a 2012 US Open semifinalist and 2010 Wimbledon finalist; No. 7 David Ferrer, of Spain, the 2013 French Open finalist and two-time US Open semifinalist (2007, 2012); No. 8 Milos Raonic, of Canada, a 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist; No. 9 Cilic, of Croatia, the US Open defending champion and 2010 Australian Open semifinalist; and No. 10 Nadal, of Spain, the 2010 and 2013 US Open champion and 14-time Grand Slam champion.

Italy’s Marco Cecchinato, ranked No. 99, is the last man to receive direct entry into the field of 128. Five players used a protected ranking to gain entry including No. 25 Mardy Fish, of the United States, No. 25 Tommy Haas, of Germany, No. 34 Florian Mayer, of Germany, No. 39 Janko Tipsarevic, of Serbia, and No. 57 Radek Stepanek, of the Czech Republic. Sixteen more players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, held August 25-28, while the eight remaining spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

Sign up for the TSFNewsletter American men who received direct entry are No. 18 John Isner, of Greensboro, N.C., No. 31 Jack Sock, of Lincoln, Neb., No. 34 Sam Querrey, of Las Vegas, No. 46 Steve Johnson, of Orange, Calif., No. 55 Donald Young, of Atlanta, No. 75 Tim Smyczek, of Tampa, Fla., No. 86 Rajeev Ram, of Carmel, Ind.; and No. 96 Denis Kudla, of Arlington, Va.

Among the players competing in the US Open Qualifying Tournament will be the winner of the sixth annual US Open National Playoffs – Men’s Championship, held during the Emirates Airline US Open Series’ Connecticut Open in New Haven, Conn., prior to the US Open Qualifying Tournament. The USTA created the US Open National Playoffs in 2010 to allow players 14 and older, regardless of playing ability or nationality, to vie for a spot in the US Open Qualifying Tournament via one of 14 sectional qualifying tournaments.

The July 20 edition of the Emirates ATP Rankings was used to determine the US Open main draw entry list. Seeds will be determined and announced closer to the start of the event.

A summary of the US Open

The 2015 US Open will mark the culmination of the Emirates Airline US Open Series, the North American summer season of seven ATP World Tour and WTA events that begin Monday, July 27.

The US Open is the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world. 2015 marks the first year of an 11-year agreement between the USTA and ESPN, which will see the US Open carried on ESPN through 2025. During the 2015 US Open, ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to air more than 130 hours of live match play with more than 1,100 hours of first-to-last ball coverage to be seen on ESPN3, which will also be hosted on the US Open website – USOpen.org. In an expansion of its US Open coverage, ESPN will feature play from 11 courts.