Nadal No. 1 Seed In U.S. Open Draw; Ivanovic Tops Women

Flushing, NY (AHN) - Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic were awarded the men's and women's top seeds, respectively, in tennis' final Grand Slam event of the year, the U.S. Open, which starts Monday.

Nadal, fresh off his Olympic gold-medal finish last week, just siezed the world no. 1 ranking from erstwhile leader Roger Federer.

Federer, a four-time champion in the U.S. Open, will also relinquish his top-seed status in the event for the first time since January 2004.

The Swiss star is yet to win a Grand Slam this year and is keen on salvaging a victory on American soil after losing twice to Nadal in the French Open and Wimbledon finals.

In the tournament draw released Thursday, Nadal will have Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and American James Blake as possible foes in his bracket.

Federer, meanwhile, is scheduled to meet no. 3 seed Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in the other half of the draw should he make it that far.

Ivanovic leads the women's seeds ahead of fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic and could meet Olympic silver medalist Dinara Safina of Russia in the last eight.

The Williams sisters, fourth-seeded Serena and seventh-seeded Venus, are also on collision course in the quarterfinals.

Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded third while Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva is seeded fifth.

Completing the men's higher seeds are no. 4 David Ferrer, no. 5 Nikolay Davydenko, no. 8 Andy Roddick and no. 9 James Blake.