Andy Murray seeded second for US Open

23 August 2016 07:53

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will be the second seed at the 2016 US Open as he looks to win his second grand slam title of the year.

Novak Djokovic is the top seed for an event he won last year, Stan Wawrinka is ranked third and two-time champion Rafael Nadal is seeded fourth, with Roger Federer having already withdrawn due to a knee injury.

Murray's first grand slam title came in New York in 2012 - though he has failed to progress past the last eight since - and he will return to the city in excellent form having just defended his Olympics title in Rio, one month after clinching his second grass-court title at Wimbledon.

Should he reach the final in the States, Murray would join Rod Laver, Federer and Djokovic in becoming the only men to advance to the final of every slam in a season.

In contrast to Murray's purple patch, Djokovic's form has dipped after a terrific start to the season, with a surprising last-32 loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon being followed up by defeat in the Olympics to eventual finalist Juan Martin del Potro, who is an unseeded wild card at the US Open.

Johanna Konta is seeded 13th in the women's half of the draw having reached the fourth round last year, while home hope Serena Williams is unsurprisingly the top seed as she looks to add a 23rd grand slam title to her resume.

Last year, chasing the 'Serena Slam' and a fourth successive US Open title, Williams was surprisingly beaten in the semi-finals to the unseeded Roberta Vinci.

Her sister, Venus Williams, is seeded sixth this year, while Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep are all in the top five.

Source: PA