From First Seed to the Final Slam: Navigating the US Open Tennis Draw

Seeding in tennis and the major Grand Slam tournaments is often met with confusion and controversy. Since the US Open is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, it’s helpful to understand how seeding works and how it’s assigned. Below, we go in-depth into the seeding process, the history of seeding and how it affects players at the US Open.

What is Seeding in Tennis?

Seeding in tennis is the preliminary ranking a player receives before entering a tournament. The importance of seeding is to ensure a fair draw among the players and to prevent the top players from competing against each other in the initial rounds of the tournament. This makes the tournament more competitive, because if the first and second seeded player competed against each other in the first round, one would be knocked out of the tournament at the beginning. This would quickly eliminate a number of the highest-ranking players and would go against the mission of the tournament — to find the top tennis player in the world.

The main difference between seeding and rankings is that the seed is determined for the top player in the specific tournament. For example, if the number one ranked player in the world could not compete in a tournament for any reason, then the number one seed would go to the next highest ranked player that is competing in the tournament.

There are 32 seeded players during the US Open and all other Grand Slam events. If a player is given a seed (one being the best player in the world, 32 being the 32nd best), they will be strategically placed in the main draw to prevent two seeded players competing until at least the third round of the tournament. Being a higher seed is beneficial, because the first two rounds will be played against a lower ranked player, thus giving the player with the higher seed the advantage in the match. Seeding is determined approximately one week before the tournament starts and does not change throughout the event.

How Seeding is Determined

Seeding is determined by a point system given to the players based on the performances at other Grand Slam tournaments, ATP and WTA tours and Challenger Events, 25k and 15k ITF tournaments. The more competitive the tournament is and the higher a player places in the tournament, the more points a player earns toward their overall ranking. For example, if a player wins a Grand Slam tournament, they’ll be given 2,000 points toward their ranking. All Grand Slam events use the current ATP ranking to determine the top seeds for the men’s singles and doubles and the current WTA ranking for women’s singles and doubles.

History of Tennis Rankings

Rankings in tennis were absent until the 1950s, when British newspapers began issuing their own. Lance Tingay was one of the top tennis journalists during this time, and his annual top 10 tennis player rankings were used as official rankings in tournaments.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was founded in 1972, and with this came a formalized tennis ranking system that was used for future tournaments. Billie Jean King set up the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973 and followed a similar ranking system to the ATP. The first official men’s and women’s singles rankings were published in 1973. The ranking was initially based on the average of all the players’ results; however, in 1990, this changed to a “best of” system, which allows players to miss tournaments (due to injury or personal reasons) and still be considered for top rankings.

Seeding in the US Open

The US Open seeding system is the same for all Grand Slam events. The men are seeded according to the ATP current rankings and the women are seeded according to the current WTA rankings. For men, the ATP takes into account the 19 best ATP-certified tournament scores for the previous calendar year leading up to the tournament; this is the basis for the “best of” system.

Each tournament assigns points — with factors such as prestige, history and competitiveness of the tournament — to decide the number of points given out. Women are subject to the “best of” on only 16 tournaments, compared to the men’s 19. Women must earn ranking points in at least three tournaments to be considered for WTA rankings.

Other than the dissimilar number of tournaments considered, the main difference between the ATP and WTA rankings are the number of points given out for individual events.

Recent Changes to the US Open Tennis Draw

One of the most highly publicized rule changes in the ranking and seeding system was the WTA’s “Special Ranking Rules,” which allowed Serena Williams to maintain a higher ranking than previously assigned due to her being out for maternity leave. This rule change allowed women to freeze their ranking if they are out for more than six months and up to three years due to injury, illness or pregnancy. However, it’s important to note that these special rankings are not allowed to be used for seedings in tournaments. The US Open changed this seeding rule for Williams in 2019, due to her legendary history and skill in the sport.