Federer seeded only seventh for US Open

Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men's draw but seeing five-time US Open champion and 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as seventh seed is the oddest sight for tennis fans.

It is first time the Swiss has been placed outside the top three in a Grand Slam in over ten years.

The last time he was seeded lower was in the 2002 when he went into the US Open as 13th seed. In that tournament he was knocked out in the fourth round by Max Mirnyi.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal is the number two seed, ahead of Britain's Andy Murray, the defending champion and this year's Wimbledon winner.

As expected, world number one and defending champion Serena Williams has been given the top seeding.

Belarussia's Victoria Azarenka, who beat Williams in Sunday's final of the CincinnatiOpen, is the second seed ahead of Maria Sharapova of Russia and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

Williams heads into the Open, which starts on August 26, looking to add to her French Open title from this year, her 16th Grand Slam singles triumph, which includes four championships at Flushing Meadows.

Williams' sister Venus, a two-time US Open winner but currently ranked 60th in the world, was unseeded.

The draw for the tournament will be held on Thursday.

Men's seeds

1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

2. Rafael Nadal, Spain

3. Andy Murray, Great Britain

4. David Ferrer, Spain

5. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic

6. Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina

7. Roger Federer, Switzerland

8. Richard Gasquet, France

9. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland

10. Milos Raonic, Canada

11. Kei Nishikori, Japan

12. Tommy Haas, Germany

13. John Isner, United States

14. Jerzy Janowicz, Poland

15. Nicolas Almagro, Spain

16. Fabio Fognini, Italy

17. Kevin Anderson, South Africa

18. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia

19. Tommy Robredo, Spain

20. Andreas Seppi, Italy

21. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia

22. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany

23. Feliciano Lopez, Spain

24. Benoit Paire, France

25. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

26. Sam Querrey, United States

27. Fernando Verdasco, Spain

28. Juan Monaco, Argentina

29. Jurgen Melzer, Austria

30. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia

31. Julien Benneteau, France

32. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia

Women's seeds

1. Serena Williams, United States

2. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus

3. Maria Sharapova, Russia

4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland

5. Sara Errani, Italy

6. Li Na, China

7. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark

8. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic

9. Angelique Kerber, Germany

10. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia

11. Roberta Vinci, Italy

12. Samantha Stosur, Australia

13. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium

14. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia

15. Maria Kirilenko, Russia

16. Sloane Stephens, United States

17. Sabine Lisicki, Germany

18. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia

19. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain

20. Sorana Cirstea, Romania

21. Nadia Petrova, Russia

22. Simona Halep, Romania

23. Elena Vesnina, Russia

24. Jamie Hampton, United States

25. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia

26. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia

27. Alize Cornet, France

28. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia

29. Mona Barthel, Germany

30. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia

31. Laura Robson, Great Britain

32. Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic