Serena No. 2 seed at US Open

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Defending champion Serena Williams was seeded No. 2 for the U.S. Open on Tuesday, behind Dinara Safina, because the tournament stuck to its policy of strictly following the rankings.

Roger Federer was seeded No. 1 for the fifth time at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. He is ranked No. 1 and has won the U.S. Open five years in a row.

Safina is No. 1 in the WTA computer, which calculates rankings based on performances across tournaments over the preceding 52 weeks. The younger sister of former men’s No. 1 Marat Safin is still seeking her first Grand Slam title. She is 0-3 in major finals, including a loss to Williams at the Australian Open in January.

Williams has won three of the past four Grand Slam singles championships and 11 overall, the most among active women. She will be seeking her fourth U.S. Open title.

The draw will be announced Thursday, and the tournament begins Monday.

Pilot Pen

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki took 43 minutes to win her first-round match.

The second-seeded Wozniacki dominated Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-0, 6-0, winning 20 of the final 21 points in a 19-minute first set before taking 24 minutes to finish Gallovits off.

The Danish star, who is ranked No. 9 in the world, said her speed and fitness level began improving just after Wimbledon, when friend and super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler suggested she take up boxing.

“You run a lot,” she said. “You get strength in your stomach, your back, your shoulders, your arms, all the things that you also need in tennis.”

Samantha Stosur needed almost 3 hours to beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in 90-degree heat. The Australian ended up losing the first set after nearly 90 minutes, but won the match 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-4.

Amelie Mauresmo also advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Alona Bondarenko; Marion Bartoli defeated Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; and third-seeded Flavia Pennetta defeated Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania 6-1, 6-2.

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko won a 22-point tiebreaker in the first set and went on to beat American Robert Kendrick 7-6 (10), 6-3.

Davydenko struggled with Kendrick’s serves, which occasionally topped 130 mph, giving up a dozen aces.