Seeds are based on the Monday, Aug. 10, rankings from the WTA and the ATP World Tour. With all top players for each Tour entered in the tournament, the seedings also reflect the current ranking for each player. 

 

Williams comes to Cincinnati looking to defend her title while in the midst of pursuing the rare calendar year Grand Slam. At Wimbledon, she completed her second career "Serena Slam," and currently is the title holder of all four Major championships. Should she repeat as US Open champion later this summer, Williams would be the first woman to win all four Slams in the same season since Steffi Graf in 1988.

 

Cincinnati was the start of this run by Williams. Since arriving at the Western & Southern Open last summer, Williams has posted a record of 59-3 with 7 titles. She is bidding to be the first woman to repeat as Cincinnati champion since Peaches Bartkowicz did so in 1966-1967.

 

Djokovic is seeded No. 1 for the third year in a row and fourth time in the past five years. He has drawn into a tie with John McEnroe and Bobby Riggs for third-most times as the No. 1 seed in tournament history, behind Roger Federer (7), Pete Sampras (5) and Bill Talbert (5). 

 

A four-time finalist in Cincinnati, it remains the only ATP Masters 1000 tournament Djokovic has not won.

 

For defending champion Federer, this will be his 14th year as a seed, establishing a tournament record, surpassing the mark of 13 that was held by Andre Agassi. The six-time Cincinnati champion is bidding to win back-to-back Western & Southern Open titles for the second time in his career (2009-2010).

 

There are 16 seeds in each 56-player field. The top eight seeds from both draws will receive first round byes.

 

WTA Seeds

9. Garbiñe Muguruza (Spain)

10. Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain)

11. Angelique Kerber (Germany)

12. Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)

13. Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland)

14. Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)

15. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)

16. Andrea Petkovic (Germany)

 

ATP World Tour Seeds

9. Rafael Nadal (Spain)

10. Milos Raonic (Canada)

11. Gilles Simon (France)

12. John Isner (USA)

13. Richard Gasquet (France)

14. David Goffin (Belgium)

15. Gael Monfils (France)

16. Kevin Anderson (South Africa)

 

Bold indicates the current leader of the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge