Serena Williams got a bit of a boost in the seedings for the United States Open by being placed at No. 17, nine spots above her current ranking.
The U.S. Tennis Association’s decision, announced Tuesday along with all the other seeds for the main draws of women’s and men’s singles, means Williams avoids a possible matchup against one of the top eight players in the third round.
It also sets up a possible matchup at that stage against her older sister Venus, who seeded 16th, her ranking this week.
All of the other seeds — 32 women, 32 men — were positioned based on the WTA and ATP rankings, as usual.