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Serena Williams seeded 17th at U.S. Open

By Nick ZaccardiAug 21, 2018, 12:00 PM EST
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Serena Williams has been seeded 17th at the U.S. Open, nine spots higher than her WTA ranking as she returns from childbirth.

The rest of the women’s and men’s singles seeds follow WTA and ATP rankings. Williams is seeded one spot below older sister Venus, a two-time U.S. Open winner.

Williams goes for her seventh U.S. Open title beginning next week. She eyes her 24th Grand Slam singles title overall, which would tie Margaret Court‘s record.

Williams returned to the WTA Tour in March after Sept. 1 childbirth followed by multiple surgeries. She made the fourth round of the French Open in May and June before withdrawing with a pectoral muscle injury.

She then reached the Wimbledon final, losing in straight sets to German Angelique Kerber.

Williams has lost two of her three matches since Wimbledon in U.S. hard-court tournaments.

The French Open did not give Williams a seed when she was ranked No. 453 due to the maternity leave. Wimbledon seeded Williams 25th when she was ranked No. 183.

The U.S. Open would “revise the seedings if pregnancy is a factor in the current rankings of a player,” USTA president and chairwoman Katrina Adams said in June, according to The New York Times.

2018 US Open Women’s Singles Seeds

 

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.  Garbiñe 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.  Barbora 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

 

2018 US Open Men’s Singles Seeds

 

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

U.S. junior champions crowned in ladies’ and men’s events

Jay Adeff/U.S. Figure Skating
By Rachel LutzJan 23, 2019, 9:52 PM EST
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Gabriella Izzo is the newest junior ladies’ national champion, crowned this week at the U.S. Championships in Detroit. Junior ladies’ national champions of the past include eventual Olympians Mirai Nagasu, Gracie Gold, Polina Edmunds and Bradie Tennell.

Izzo had a commanding lead after the short program, with 60.97 points, where she pulled off her first-ever triple Lutz, triple loop combination in competition. (However, it was deemed under-rotated.) Regardless, her 111.45 points in the free skate combined for 172.42 points and the gold medal.

Audrey Shin, who actually won the free skate by just over a point, earned the silver medal with 165.61 points. Emilia Murdock took home the bronze with 154.48 points.

On the junior men’s side, Ryan Dunk rebounded from second after the short program to win the event. His 132.85-point free skate was enough to crack the 200-point overall score, the only man in the field to do so, and win the gold.

Men’s junior champions include eventual world champion Nathan Chen (twice) as well as Olympians Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown.

Dinh Tran finished second with 196.03 points after a fourth-place short program. Joonsoo Kim, who lead after the short program on Tuesday, ended up with the bronze medal with 187.95 points.

NBC Sports Gold’s “Figure Skating Pass” will live stream each junior competition and replays will also be available on-demand. Check out the full schedule and live streaming information here.

The junior rhythm dance took place earlier Wednesday. Siblings Caroline and Gordon Green lead the field with 70.82 points, while Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik are second with 65.92 points. The brother-sister team of Oona and Gage Brown are in third with 63.34 heading into Friday’s junior free dance.

Also Wednesday, Laiken Lockley and Keenan Prochnow took the lead in the junior pairs’ short program. The junior pairs’ free skate is Thursday. Kate Finster and Balazs Nagy are second, followed by Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard in third.

MORE: Full streaming schedule

As a reminder, you can watch the junior and senior U.S. Championships live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. Go to NBCsports.com/gold/figure-skating to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season. NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.

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Chloe Kim, David Wise among X Games headliners

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By Rachel ThompsonJan 23, 2019, 6:25 PM EST
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More: Olympics

Chloe Kim gets World Cup halfpipe win ahead of X Games Chloe Kim makes it five straight wins with Dew Tour title Chloe Kim dominates first halfpipe contest of season after clinic visit

The X Games return to Aspen, Colorado, this week at Buttermilk Mountain. A marquee event on the yearly snowboarding and freeskiing calendar, the X Games will feature a handful of Olympic gold medalists and notable names in action sports. Below are a few storylines to watch for this week:

Nearly full field of Olympic gold medalists will compete in Aspen

All four freestyle skiing gold medalists in X Games events (halfpipe, slopestyle) and five of six Olympic snowboarding champions (slopestyle, halfpipe, big air) are expected to compete in Aspen. Among them is Chloe Kim, who has not lost a contest since the Olympics. She finished last season with a win at the US Open, and has three victories already this season, including at the Dew Tour in December. Since the Olympics, Kim’s star has only grown: she’s thrown out the first pitch at a Dodgers game and become an awards show regular, but her ability to crush her competition on the pipe remains unchanged.

In addition to Kim, the three other U.S. gold medalists from 2018 should all contend: in men’s ski halfpipe, two-time defending Olympic gold medalist David Wise has continued to impress this season, but as in previous years, he’ll be challenged by his teammates, Aaron Blunck and Aspen native Alex Ferreira, who would skip school as a kid to watch the X Games in person. Snowboard slopestyle gold medalists Red Gerard and Jamie Anderson are both podium threats as well.

After missing Olympics, can Sildaru sweep in Aspen?

Three years ago, a quiet and unassuming Kelly Sildaru won her first X Games title at 13, becoming the youngest ever winner in a winter event. Pegged early as a star for the PyeongChang Games in both slopestyle and halfpipe, the Estonian teenager missed the Olympics with a torn left ACL. Sildaru, who hails from a country with no mountains, will attempt a rare triple in Aspen: she’ll compete in slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air. No winter sports athlete has ever won three gold medals at the same X Games contest. Sildaru missed last year’s event due to her knee injury and has looked sharp so far this season: she won the U.S. Grand Prix in halfpipe and the Dew Tour in slopestyle. Sildaru has four X Games medals in total: two in slopestyle and two in big air.

White’s protégé awaits his big moment

Toby Miller learned from the best: the 18-year-old was mentored by three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, who brought Miller to PyeongChang as his guest. White hasn’t competed since the Olympics, focusing instead on skateboarding, while Miller is having a notable season of his own: he finished third at the Dew Tour and second at the U.S. Grand Prix. The U.S. halfpipe contingent remains deep: Olympians Jake Pates, Ben Ferguson and Chase Josey are all contenders on any given day, though PyeongChang bronze medalist Scotty James will likely be the favorite.

Big tricks

The X Games are often a staging point for new tricks: in 2017, Norway’s Marcus Kleveland became the first to land a quad in competition, only to be topped by Canadian Max Parrot, who won the event with a quad of his own. Chloe Kim and PyeongChang big air gold medalist Anna Gasser have been at the forefront of innovative tricks this season. Kim, a four-time X Games winner, is still far ahead of the field with back-to-back 1080s, which she used last weekend at a World Cup event in Laax. In October 2018, she became the first woman to land a frontside double cork 1080, though she has yet to execute it in competition. Kim can win easily with the arsenal of tricks she already has – but she’d make a bit of history if she decides to go for it.

In November, Gasser became the first woman to land a cab triple underflip, though like Kim, she has not done so in competition. Known for her progressive approach to the sport and impressive arsenal of difficult tricks, Gasser could attempt the triple at the X Games.