Lleyton Hewitt will be at the mercy of the main draw at this month's US Open after being left unseeded for the first time in a grand slam event in eight years.
New men's No.1 Rafael Nadal and women's top-ranked Ana Ivanovic head the seedings for the New York tournament starting August 25.
But Hewitt, who dropped 17 places in the rankings this week to a nine-year low of 55, has, as expected, been left out of the top 32 seeds, meaning he could draw the likes of Nadal, Swiss master Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in the opening round.
It is the first time since the 2000 Australian Open, when there was only 16 seeds, that Hewitt has entered a grand slam event unseeded. He was seeded for the first time in the French Open later that year.
The 2008 US Open draw is Thursday.
Hewitt, still struggling with a hip injury, plunged further down the rankings after being unable to defend the points he gained last year in Montreal (where he was a quarter-finalist in 2007) and Cincinnati (where he made the semis) in recent weeks.
Federer, the four-time defending champion, was seeded No.2 for Flushing Meadows, and Australian Open champ Djokovic was No.3.
Nadal took over as the men's top-ranked player on Monday, ending Roger Federer's 237-week reign since February 2004.
The Spaniard had been second to Federer since July 2005, a span of 160 consecutive weeks.
He beat Federer in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, and will try to become the first man to add the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969.
Nadal won the Olympic singles on Sunday.
The rest of the top 10 was David Ferrer of Spain, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Andy Murray of Britain, David Nalbandian of Argentina, 2003 champion Andy Roddick of the United States, James Blake of the United States, and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who won the Olympic doubles with Federer.
Ivanovic won her maiden grand slam at the French Open, where she also vaulted to No.1 for the first time.
Fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic became No.1 last week but was replaced by Ivanovic this week.
Jankovic will be seeded No.2 at the US Open, followed by 2004 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, two-time champ Serena Williams, new Olympic champ Elena Dementieva of Russia, two-time champion Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, and Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.
No.5-ranked Maria Sharapova, who beat Ivanovic in the Australian Open final, withdrew injured.
