Azarenka is top seed for U.S. Open

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NEW YORK, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has been installed as the top seed for the U.S. Open, the tennis year's final major tournament.

Azarenka, who won the Australian Open this year and was a semifinalist at Wimbledon, has spent 27 weeks on top of the rankings.

The U.S. Open seedings follow the WTA rankings, placing Agnieszka Radwanska second with French Open champion Maria Sharapova third and Serena Williams, who won the Wimbledon Championships and the Olympic gold medal this year, fourth.

Petra Kvitova is seeded No. 5 while Angelique Kerber is sixth. Defending U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur is seventh and Caroline Wozniacki is seeded eighth.

Radwanska, Kerber and Wozniacki are all looking for their first Grand Slam titles.

Kim Clijsters, who won the U.S. Open three times -- 2005, '09 and '10 -- takes a 21-U.S. Open-match winning streak and No. 23 seed into what she has said is her final major tournament.

Venus Williams, the tournament titlist in 2000 and '01, is the only former women's singles winner in the field not seeded this year.

The 2012 U.S. open begins Monday and the women's single final is scheduled for Sept. 8.