Serena Williams seeded No. 1 for U.S. Open

NEW YORK — Top-ranked Serena Williams is seeded No. 1 as she seeks her third straight U.S. Open title.

The U.S. Tennis Association followed this week’s WTA rankings in announcing the seedings Wednesday.

French Open runner-up Simona Halep is seeded second after reaching a career-best ranking this month. She has never advanced past the fourth round at the U.S. Open.

Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova is seeded No. 3 with third-ranked Li Na out because of a knee injury. Agnieszka Radwanska moves up to No. 4.

Five-time major champ Maria Sharapova is seeded fifth, meaning there’s a chance she could face Williams in the quarterfinals. The runner-up the last two years, Victoria Azarenka, is seeded 16th after an injury-plagued season.

Venus Williams is seeded 19th.

The draw is Thursday, and the tournament starts Monday.

U.S. OPEN WOMEN’S SEEDS:

1, Serena Williams, United States

2, Simona Halep, Romania

3, Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic

4, Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland

5, Maria Sharapova, Russia

6, Angelique Kerber, Germany

7, Eugenie Bouchard, Canada

8, Ana Ivanovic, Serbia

9, Jelena Jankovic, Serbia

10, Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark

11, Flavia Pennetta, Italy

12, Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia

13, Sara Errani, Italy

14, Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic

15, Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain

16, Victoria Azarenka, Belarus

17, Ekaterina Makarova, Russia

18, Andrea Petkovic, Germany

19, Venus Williams, United States

20, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia

21, Sloane Stephens, United States

22, Alize Cornet, France

23, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia

24, Sam Stosur, Australia

25, Garbine Muguruza, Spain

26, Sabine Lisicki, Germany

27, Madison Keys, United States

28, Roberta Vinci, Italy

29, Casey Dellacqua, Australia

30, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic

31, Kurumi Nara, Japan

32, Zhang Shuai, China