Five-time champion and world number one Roger Federer was confirmed Tuesday as the top men’s seed at the US Open, the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year that starts Monday at Flushing Meadows. Defending champion Novak Djokovic is seeded second and world number four Andy Murray of Britain, who won Olympic gold at Wimbledon, is seeded third — higher than his world ranking because of the injury absence of Spain’s Rafael Nadal.
Spain’s David Ferrer is seeded fourth. The singles draw for the tournament, which runs from August 27-September 9, will be made on Thursday. Federer, who won his 17th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, has won six titles in 2012, including his seventh Wimbledon title and three ATP Masters Series titles. The Swiss great won five straight US Open titles from 2004-08.
Bartoli, Errani reach New Haven quarters: French Open finalist Sara Errani and former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli booked a quarter-final clash at the WTA’s New Haven Open on Tuesday. Italy’s Errani, the fourth seed, defeated Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-3, while fifth-seeded Bartoli of France survived a scare to beat American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 0-6, 6-3.
Bartoli trailed 0-3 in the third but won the next six games to advance in the US Open tune-up event. Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was due to open her campaign later Tuesday with a second-round clash against qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus. Meanwhile, first-round action concluded as China’s Zheng Jie defeated Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5, 6-2 to set up a second-round match with eighth-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova.
Top seed Tsonga advances at Winston-Salem: Top-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga launched his campaign at the ATP’s Winston-Salem hardcourt tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Thomaz Bellucci on Tuesday. Tsonga, ranked sixth in the world, converted just one of his nine break point opportunities, but saved all five that he faced to beat the Brazilian in a match lasting one hour 49 minutes. Tsonga, who also beat Bellucci at the London Olympics, was one of 16 seeded players to enjoy a first-round bye. In the third round he’ll face Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Spain’s Pablo Andujar.
Second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who like Tsonga is appearing for the first time at this US Open tune-up event, needed just 95 minutes to oust Russian Alex Bogomolov 6-3, 7-5. Berdych will next play Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who beat German qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-3. Defending champion and third seed John Isner of the United States shook off a slow start to beat 50th-ranked Slovakian Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“The first one is normally the toughest,” said Isner, ranked 10th in the world. “Credit to him, he came out and was playing pretty well, and I wasn’t on top of my game and that’s all it took in the first set. From that point on, I knew it was going to be a battle.” Isner gained the decisive break for a 6-5 lead in the third set and wrapped up the victory in two hours and two minutes. “I wasn’t that great out there today, but I think as the tournament progresses I’ll keep getting stronger,” he said.
