Pliskova, Nadal top US Open

SPAIN’S Rafael Nadal, who regained the world No 1 tennis ranking on Monday, and world No 1 woman Karolina Pliskova, were named the top seeds for the US Open yesterday.

Nadal, who won a 10th French Open title in June, will be chasing a third US Open title to go with those he won in 2010 and 2013, when the final grand slam of the season starts at the Flushing Meadows on Monday.

He is seeded first ahead of Britain’s Andy Murray, with Wimbledon champion Roger Federer seeded third.

Crowd-pleaser Federer, of Switzerland, will be seeking his 20th grand slam title – and his sixth in New York.

But Murray – who won the US Open in 2012 – and Federer have battled injuries in the build-up.

The Briton has been sidelined with a hip injury since Wimbledon and Federer skipped the Cincinnati Masters with back trouble.

Injuries have led to a string of notable absentees, including reigning champion Swiss Stan Wawrinka, and two-time winner Novak Djokovic, of Serbia.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev, 20, is a beneficiary – ranked sixth in the world – and is seeded fourth.

Former champion Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga round out the top eight. The draw is today, at 6pm SA time. Czech Pliskova, the runner-up to Germany’s Angelique Kerber last year, leads the women’s field ahead of world No 2 Simona Halep.

Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, who won her second career grand slam title at Wimbledon and claimed her first WTA title on US courts at Cincinnati, is seeded third.

Elina Svitolina, winner of the WTA event in Toronto, is the fourth seed ahead of Caroline Wozniacki and Kerber.

Johanna Konta and former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova complete the top eight.

Veteran star Venus Williams is the highest ranked American, seeded ninth.

Six-time US Open champion Serena Williams will be absent, as she awaits the birth of her first child. – AFP

CANADIAN Milos Raonic has withdrawn from the US Open with a left wrist injury, the world No 11 said on Instagram.

Raonic, 26, said in the post he had a procedure on Wednesday to remove portions of bone that had been causing him discomfort for weeks.

“I have too much respect for the US Open and my fellow competitors to take a spot in the draw when I know I cannot give full effort due to this injury,” Raonic wrote on the social media site.

The US Open, the final grand slam of the season, starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Raonic is the latest forced out of the tournament, which features a men’s field headed by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer but missing injured Novak Djokovic, reigning champion Stan Wawrinka and former finalist Kei Nishikori. –