Wozniacki top seed for US Open

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time Tuesday, getting the top spot at the U.S. Open because Serena Williams pulled out with a foot injury.

Wozniacki, ranked No. 2 behind Williams by the WTA, was the runner-up at Flushing Meadows last year and is the first woman since 2003 to be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open without already having won a major championship.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters was seeded No. 2 by the U.S. Tennis Association, which stuck strictly to the rankings in determining the seedings. Venus Williams, the 2000-01 U.S. Open champion, is No. 3, followed by 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic and French Open runner-up Sam Stosur.

Two other past U.S. Open champions who were seeded are No. 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 14 Maria Sharapova.

Serena Williams, Venus’ younger sister, withdrew last week, saying she still is recovering from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot.

The men’s seedings were announced Monday, with Rafael Nadal at No. 1.The draw for the U.S. Open is Thursday, and play begins Monday.

PILOT PEN

NEW HAVEN, Conn.

Samantha Stosur needed three sets and a tiebreaker to beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (4) .

The second-seeded woman cruised through the first set, but was broken twice in the second.

Errani was serving for the match, up 5-4 and 40-15 in the third, before Stosur rallied, saving four match points.

“I just tried to hang in there and eventually got through that game, and once I won that then I knew that I was in a good spot,” Stosur said.

Stosur, who didn’t play in Cincinnati or Montreal because of an injury to her right arm, said she was a bit nervous about how it would hold up under match conditions.

“I actually hadn’t hit more than about 30 serves in any practice session yet, so it was a good test for it tonight, and it was all good,” she said.

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Marcos Baghdatis fought through strong winds and a half hour of rain delays for a 6-2, 6-4 win over Igor Andreev in his opening match.

In the women’s draw, Elena Vesnina lost to Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 in the first round, a year after making it to the finals.