Stephens seeded third, Serena 17th in U.S. Open

   Defending champion Sloane Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product, is seeded third in the U.S. Open behind Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki.
   All three have won one Grand Slam title, with each coming in the past year. Wozniacki and Halep broke through this year in the Australian Open and French Open, respectively. Halep defeated Stephens in the final at Roland Garros.
   The U.S. Open seedings were announced today. The draw will be held Thursday, and the tournament is scheduled for Monday through Sept. 9.
   Serena Williams, a 36-year-old San Francisco resident, is seeded 17th. Williams, who missed last year's U.S. Open while having her first child, can tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
   The finalists of this month's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, champion Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania and Maria Sakkari of Greece, are seeded 21st and 32nd, respectively.
   Here are the complete women's and men's seedings:

WOMEN

1. Simona Halep, Romania
2. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
3. Sloane Stephens, United States
4. Angelique Kerber, Germany
5. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
6. Caroline Garcia, France
7. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
8. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
9. Julia Goerges, Germany
10. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia
11. Daria Kasatkina, Russia
12. Garbine Muguruza, Spain
13. Kiki Bertens, Netherlands
14. Madison Keys, United States
15. Elise Mertens, Belgium
16. Venus Williams, United States
17. Serena Williams, United States
18. Ashleigh Barty, Australia
19. Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia
20. Naomi Osaka, Japan
21. Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania
22. Maria Sharapova, Russia
23. Barboa Strycova, Czech Republic
24. CoCo Vandeweghe, United States
25. Daria Gavrilova, Australia
26. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus
27. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
28. Anett Kontaveit, Estonia
29. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
30. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
31. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia
32. Maria Sakkari, Greece

MEN

1. Rafael Nadal, Spain
2. Roger Federer, Switzerland
3. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
4. Alexander Zverev, Germany
5. Kevin Anderson, South Africa
6. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
7. Marin Cilic, Croatia
8. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
9. Dominic Thiem, Austria
10. David Goffin, Belgium
11. John Isner, United States
12. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain
13. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina
14. Fabio Fognini, Italy
15. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
16. Kyle Edmund, Great Britain
17. Lucas Pouille, France
18. Jack Sock, United States
19. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
20. Borna Coric, Croatia
21. Kei Nishikori, Japan
22. Marco Cecchinato, Italy
23. Hyeon Chung, South Korea
24. Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia and Herzegovina
25. Milos Raonic, Canada
26. Richard Gasquet, France
27. Karen Khachanov, Russia
28. Denis Shapovalov, Canada
29. Adrian Mannarino, France
30. Nick Kyrgios, Australia
31. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
32. Filip Krajinovic, Serbia