Anderson could miss seedings

Johannesburg - Top South African tennis player Kevin Anderson could miss out on one of the all-important seedings for next week's US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York.

With the under-pressure Anderson's world ranking declining from a career-best 28th earlier in the year to a present 35th position after first-round losses in his last two tournaments, Anderson on Wednesday remained in serious danger of failing to gain one of the 32 men's singles seedings.

And the implication of this is that he could come face-to-face with top-seeded Roger Federer, second-seeded Novak Djokovic or any of the world's other leading players in the first round when the draw is made on Friday.

At best, if he failed to make a seeding, Anderson would face one of the seeded players in the second round.

In order to ensure avoiding this uneasy outcome, a minimum of three players ranked higher in the world would need to withdraw from the prestigious Flushing Meadows event for Anderson to receive a "protected" seeding.

A US Open spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed that at this point only world No 3 Rafael Nadal, among the world's top bracket of players, had withdrawn from the tournament.

"There is the possibility of further withdrawals before the seedings are finalised," he added. "We shall just have to wait and see."