New York - Rafael Nadal began his new reign at world number one by being named as top seed at the US Open on Tuesday. The Spanish Olympic gold medallist will stand alongside women's top seed Ana Ivanovic as the final Grand Slam of the season that starts on Monday. Nadal added more lustre to his sparkling 2008 curriculum as he beat Fernando Gonzalez for gold medal last weekend in Beijing. Ivanovic was unable to play at the Olympics, pulling out before her first match with a thumb injury.
Following Nadal in the seedings is Roger Federer, an unaccustomed second after four-and-a-half year at the top of the sport. Serb Novak Djokovic takes third ahead of Spain's David Ferrer of Spain and and number five Nikolay Davydenko.
Britain's Andy Murray claims sixth while Argentine David Nalbandian is seventh, trailed by Americans Andy Roddick on eighth and James Blake, ninth.
Ivanovic, who won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in June, is trailed by number 2 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia; Svetlana Kuznetsova, and American Serena Williams on fourth.
Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, the Olympic gold medalist, heads Dinara Safina and Venus Williams.
Women 1. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia 2. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia 3. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia 4. Serena Williams, United States 5. Elena Dementieva, Russia 6. Dinara Safina, Russia 7. Venus Williams, United States 8. Vera Zvonareva, Russia 9. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland 10. Anna Chakvetadze, Russia 11. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovak Republic 12. Marion Bartoli, France 13. Agnes Szavay, Hungary 14. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus 15. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland 16. Flavia Pennetta, Italy 17. Alize Cornet, France 18. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovak Republic 19. Nadia Petrova, Russia 20. Nicole Vaidisova, Czech Republic 21. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark 22. Maria Kirilenko, Russia 23. Lindsay Davenport, United States 24. Shahar Peer, Israel 25. Francesca Schiavone, Italy 26. Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain 27. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine 28. Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenia 29. Sybille Bammer, Austria 30. Ai Sugiyama, Japan 31. Virginie Razzano, France 32. Amelie Mauresmo, France
Men 1. Rafael Nadal, Spain 2. Roger Federer, Switzerland 3. Novak Djokovic, Serbia 4. David Ferrer, Spain 5. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia 6. Andy Murray, Great Britain 7. David Nalbandian, Argentina 8. Andy Roddick, United States 9. James Blake, United States 10. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland 11. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile 12. Richard Gasquet, France 13. Fernando Verdasco, Spain 14. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia 15. Tommy Robredo, Spain 16. Gilles Simon, France 17. Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina 18. Nicolas Almagro, Spain 19. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France 20. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany 21. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia 22. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic 23. Igor Andreev, Russia 24. Paul-Henri Mathieu 25. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany 26. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia 27. Feliciano Lopez, Spain 28. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic 29. Juan Monaco, Argentina 30. Marin Cilic, Croatia 31. Andreas Seppi, Italy 32. Gael Monfils, France
