Djokovic, Federer Top Seeds at US Open; Murray Seeded Eight

The US Tennis Association (USTA) announced the list of seeds on Tuesday, top-ranked Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 1 while five time champion Roger Federer has taken No. 2 seed.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer — Novak Djokovic holds the winner's trophy after defeating Roger Federer (R), holding the runner's-up trophy, after their men's singles final at Wimbledon.Reuters

The US Tennis Association (USTA) announced the list of seeds on Tuesday, with top-ranked Novak Djokovic seeded No. 1, while five-time champion Roger Federer has taken the No. 2 seed.

This means that the two top players could face each other only in the final when the tournament begins on Monday, 25 August. The USTA followed this week's ATP rankings in penning down the seedings.

With defending champion Rafael Nadal's withdrawal due to a wrist injury, Federer has moved up one spot from his number 3 ranking in the charts. However, Nadal's absence has benefited many players in terms of ranking and fight for the title.

The 33-year-old Federer is seeded for the 14th consecutive year at the US Open, tying with Ivan Lendl for the longest streak. Federer, who hasn't won the US Open in six years, lost to Tommy Robredo in the round of 16 last year.

The Swiss seems to be in good form and performed well in the lead up tournaments this season, reaching the final in the Rogers Cup and ultimately winning the title in Cincinnati. Federer will be one of the favourites at the year's last Grand Slam—the US Open.

Federer's biggest competition will be Serbian Djokovic, who he lost to at Wimbledon last month. Djokovic reclaimed the World no. 1 ranking from Nadal after winning at the the All England Championships in July.

Djokovic, who was the US Open champion in 2011, has appeared in last four consecutive finals in New York. The reigning Wimbledon champion has a 39-6 record so far in 2014. The Serbian will now aim to become the first player to reach five consecutive US Open finals since Federer (2004-09).

Djokovic lost the US Open title to Nadal last year and to Andy Murray in 2012.

The 27-year-old won back-to-back Masters Series titles earlier this year, but did not perform well during the lead up to the US Open, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Toronto and Tommy Robredo in Cincinnati. Djokovic admitted that things were not "clicking" after his post-Wimbledon break, during which he married longtime girlfriend Jelena Ristic.

Following Djokovic and Federer in the seedings are Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka and Cincinnati finalist David Ferrer, who are seeded third and fourth respectively. Wimbledon semifinalists Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic are seeded fifth and seventh in that order.

World no. 9 Murray is seeded 8 due to defending champion Nadal's withdrawal from the tournament. There was a likelihood of Murray facing Djokovic, Federer or Nadal in the round 16 had he been seeded no. 9.

Murray, who hails from Great Britain, has not won any title or even reached the final since winning Wimbledon in 2013, where he beat Djokovic.

2014 US Open Seeds:

1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

2. Roger Federer, Switzerland

3. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland

4. David Ferrer, Spain

5. Milos Raonic, Canada

6. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic

7. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

8. Andy Murray, Great Britain

9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France

10. Kei Nishikori, Japan