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Federer made No. 1 seed for U.S. Open

Rafael Nadal (L) and Novak Djokovic pose with their trophies at the conclusion of the 2011 U.S. Open. Djokovic will be seeded No. 2 this year as he tries to defend the title. UPI/Monika Graff
Rafael Nadal (L) and Novak Djokovic pose with their trophies at the conclusion of the 2011 U.S. Open. Djokovic will be seeded No. 2 this year as he tries to defend the title. UPI/Monika Graff | License Photo

NEW YORK, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Five-time champion and No. 1-ranked Roger Federer was made the top seed for the U.S. Open, the final major tournament on the 2012 tennis schedule.

The seedings match the ATP rankings but No. 3-ranked Rafael Nadal, the 2010 champion and last year's runner-up, will miss the tournament because of a knee injury.

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Federer collected his 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and will be the top seed. No. 2-seeded Novak Djokovic won the 2012 Australian Open and was the runner-up to Nadal at the French Open after winning three Grand Slam events, including the U.S. Open, in 2011. Andy Murray, seeded third, is coming off a runner-up performance at Wimbledon but did win the gold medal at the Olympics.

The No. 4 seeding goes to David Ferrer while Jo-Winfried Tsonga is fifth and Tomas Berdych takes the sixth spot. Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open winner, is the No. 7 seed and Janko Tipsarevic is eighth.

Del Potro is the only player not named Federer (2004-08), Nadal (2010) or Djokovic (2011) to win the U.S. Open title since Andy Roddick turned the trick in 2003. Since Wimbledon in 2003, either Federer, Nadal or Djokovic have won 33 of the 37 major tournament titles.

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The draws for the men's field is to be announced Thursday. The tournament begins Monday and concludes with the men's singles title match Sept. 9.

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