Serena Williams seeded 17th at US Open

Williams, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon this year after losing to Germany's Angelique Kerber in the final, is ranked 26th in the world, nine places below the seeding she has been awarded.

Serena Williams. Source: Getty

The current WTA rankings are the usual criteria to decide seeding in the women's draw.

Williams, who has won the U.S. Open six times and will turn 37 next month, missed last year's tournament because of pregnancy.

In June, United States Tennis Association president Katrina Adams said the U.S. Open would revise seedings to take into account the effect of pregnancy on the current rankings of players.

Adams' comments came in the wake of widespread criticism of tennis officials after Serena was denied a seeding at this year's French Open, her first grand slam after returning to the sport.

Romanian Simona Halep is the top seed in the women's draw with defending champion Sloane Stephens at number three, ahead of Kerber, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2016.

There were no surprises on the men's side with world number one and defending champion Rafa Nadal named top seed, ahead of Roger Federer and Argentine Juan Martin del Porto in third.

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who heads to Flushing Meadows in arguably his best form since returning from a troublesome elbow injury, is seeded sixth, a place below big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.

John Isner is the highest-seeded American in the men's draw at number 11.

Australian No. 1 Ashleigh Barty is seeded 18 and Daria Gavrilova 25. The only seeded Australian on the men’s side of the draw is Nick Kyrgios at 30.

2018 US Open Women’s Singles Seeds

1. Simona Halep, Romania

2. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark

3. Sloane Stephens, United States

4. Angelique Kerber, Germany

5. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic

6. Caroline Garcia, France

7. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine

8. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic

9. Julia Goerges, Germany

10. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia

11. Daria Kasatkina, Russia

12. Garbiñe Muguruza, Spain

13. Kiki Bertens, Netherlands

14. Madison Keys, United States

15. Elise Mertens, Belgium

16. Venus Williams, United States

17. Serena Williams, United States

18. Ashleigh Barty, Australia

19. Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia

20. Naomi Osaka, Japan

21. Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania

22. Maria Sharapova, Russia

23. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic

24. CoCo Vandeweghe, United States

25. Daria Gavrilova, Australia

26. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus

27. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia

28. Anett Kontaveit, Estonia

29. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia

30. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain

31. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia

32. Maria Sakkari, Greece

2018 US Open Men’s Singles Seeds

1. Rafael Nadal, Spain

2. Roger Federer, Switzerland

3. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina

4. Alexander Zverev, Germany

5. Kevin Anderson, South Africa

6. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

7. Marin Cilic, Croatia

8. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

9. Dominic Thiem, Austria

10. David Goffin, Belgium

11. John Isner, United States

12. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain

13. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina

14. Fabio Fognini, Italy

15. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece

16. Kyle Edmund, Great Britain

17. Lucas Pouille, France

18. Jack Sock, United States

19. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain

20. Borna Coric, Croatia

21. Kei Nishikori, Japan

22. Marco Cecchinato, Italy

23. Hyeon Chung, South Korea

24. Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia and Herzegovina

25. Milos Raonic, Canada

26. Richard Gasquet, France

27. Karen Khachanov, Russia

28. Denis Shapovalov, Canada

29. Adrian Mannarino, France

30. Nick Kyrgios, Australia

31. Fernando Verdasco, Spain

32. Filip Krajinovic, Serbia