( L - R ) Federer, Henin - Reuters photos

NEW YORK (AP):

Three-time defending champion Roger Federer was seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open for the fourth consecutive year, and Justine Henin topped the women's seedings yesterday.

Thirteen players who have won Grand Slam titles are among the 32 men and 32 women seeded for the last major tournament of the year.

That includes men's No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the three-time French Open champion and No. 5 Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open and lost to Federer in last year's final.

Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 3, Nikolay Davydenko - involved in a match that sparked an ATP betting probe this month - is No. 4 and James Blake is No. 6.

Sharapova is seeded No. 2

Defending champion Maria Sharapova is seeded No. 2 in the women's field, followed by No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova - the 2004 U.S. Open champion - and No. 5 Ana Ivanovic.

Sharapova and Kuznetsova are two of the seven Russian women who were seeded, joined by No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 7 Nadia Petrova, No. 14 Elena Dementieva, No. 15 Dinara Safina and No. 27 Vera Zvonareva.

Sisters Serena and Venus Williams, who each won the U.S. Open twice, were the only American women seeded, with Serena at No. 8 and Venus at No. 12. Roddick and Blake were the only American men in the seedings.

Federer, bidding for his 12th Grand Slam title, will try to become the first man since the 1920s to win the U.S. championship four years in a row.

Henin won the U.S. Open in 2003 and was the runner-up to Sharapova last year.

The U.S. Open followed the ATP and WTA rankings to determine seedings. The draw for the tournament is today and play begins next Monday.