NEW YORK — Roger Federer is seeded No. 7 for the US Open, his first slot outside the top three at any Grand Slam tournament in a decade. Federer's ranking dropped two slots to seventh Monday, and the US Tennis Association's seedings followed the ATP standings. Federer's record 17 Grand Slam titles include five at the US Open. He's among five former champions in the men's field, including No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic, No. 2 Rafael Nadal, and No. 3 Andy Murray, who won the 2012 title. World No. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams has been given the top seeding in the women's section. Belarussia's Victoria Azarenka, who beat Williams in Sunday's final of the Cincinnati Open, is the second seed ahead of Maria Sharapova of Russia and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska. Federer was seeded No. 1 at 18 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments from 2004-08. He hadn't been seeded outside the top three at the US Open since he was 13th in 2002. The last time he was seeded fourth or worse at any major tournament was when he was No. 4 at Wimbledon in 2003 — when he went on to win his first Grand Slam title. Williams heads into the Open, which starts on Aug. 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. Wozniacki prevails Caroline Wozniacki found another way to win at the New Haven Open, where she has lost just one match in six years. The four-time champion advanced to the second round Monday when Peng Shuai was forced to retire while up a set. Peng was leading 6-2, 1-3 when the chair umpire announced the Chinese player could not continue due to illness. Tournament officials later said she was suffering from dizziness. Peng, who has a history of heart problems, spent an extended time with a trainer after Wozniacki asked for a coach while leading 3-0 in the second set. Peng broke Wozniacki's serve twice in the first set. But fourth-seeded Wozniacki seemed to turn things around in the second game of the second set, which included seven deuces and Peng holding an advantage five times. No. 6-seeded Sloane Stephens beat Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 and will play German Julia Goerges in the second round. Goerges advanced with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win over Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia. Stephens, who beat Serena Williams to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open in January and made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in July, came into the match ranked 17th in the world. Two years ago, she came into New Haven ranked 110th and lost in qualifying. Stephens said she's been able to stay grounded with the help of some friends, including tennis great Billie Jean King, who sends her texts before every big match. “She says, ‘Pressure is a privilege,'” Stephens said. “I think it's one of the strongest statements I've heard.” Fifth-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy and No. 8 Dominika Cibulkova both lost. Vinci went out 7-5, 6-3 to Carla Suarez Navarro, who will next play Romanian Simona Halep. The 21-year-old Halep, who has already won three tournaments this year, beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-1. Among the other winners Monday were Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina, Mayo Hibi of Japan, qualifier Monica Puig of Puerto Rico and Karin Knapp of Italy. — Agencies
