Coco Gauff has been the big loser in terms of the seedings ahead of her US Open title defence following her early exit from the Cincinnati Open.

The 20-year-old was the defending champion at the Cincinnati WTA 1000 event, but she suffered a shock second-round loss to Yulia Putintseva to drop to third in the Live WTA Rankings with Aryna Sabalenka moving up one spot while Iga Swiatek remains clear at No 1.

With the 2024 US Open seedings based on the August 19 rankings, it means Gauff will be seeded third at Flushing Meadows and it makes her path to possible glory a little trickier.

If the seedings hold, then the American will face either Swiatek or Sabalenka in the semi-final.

But there is good news for Gauff as last year she was seeded sixth and ended up beating Sabalenka in three sets in the final to win her maiden Grand Slam.

The top three seedings for the US Open have been set with Elena Rybakina currently occupying the fourth spot, but she could still lose that place to Jasmine Paolini (currently fifth) although the Italian will need to win the Cincinnati Open to move up.

They are followed by Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng, Barbora Krejcikova, Maria Sakkari and Jelena Ostapenko.

Pegula and Zheng are still active in Cincinnati, but they can only move up one place if they enjoy an extended run.

Gauff and Pegula are among five American women currently in the top 32 of the Live Rankings with Danielle Collins (11), Emma Navarro (13) and Madison Keys (14) assured of being seeded for their home Grand Slam.

For Navarro, it will be the first time that she will be seeded for the US Open as last year she was still outside the top 50 for the season-ending major.

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Further down the list, there has been a big breakthrough for Diana Shnaider with the Russian continuing her fine form as she is into the third round in Cincinnati and sits at a career-high No 18. It will be the first time that the 20-year-old will be seeded at a major.

Gauff’s conqueror Putintseva has moved up three places in the Live Rankings to No 30, but the Kazakh player along with British No 1 Katie Boulter (31) and Elise Mertens (32) are far from assured of their seedings as they can still be overtaken.

Paula Badosa is the biggest threat as she is at No 34, but still alive in Cincinnati. Magdalena Frech (45) and Taylor Townsend (46) are also still in action at the WTA 1000 event, but they will need to reach the last few rounds if they are to secure a seeding.

WTA top 32 seeds as of August 16

1. Iga Swiatek – Poland
2. Aryna Sabalenka
3. Coco Gauff – United States
4. Elena Rybakina – Kazakhstan
5. Jasmine Paolini – Italy
6. Jessica Pegula – United States
7. Zheng Qinwen – China
8. Maria Sakkari, Greece
9. Barbora Krejcikova – Czech Republic
10. Danielle Collins, United States
11. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia
12. Daria Kasatkina
13. Emma Navarro – United States
14. Madison Keys – United States
15. Anna Kalinskaya
16. Ons Jabeur – Tunisia
17. Liudmila Samsonova
18. Daria Shnaider
19. Marta Kostyuk – Ukraine
20. Victoria Azarenka
21. Marketa Vondrousova – Czech Republic
22. Beatriz Haddad Maia – Brazil
23. Mirra Andreeva
24. Donna Vekic – Croatia
25. Leylah Fernandez – Canada
26. Caroline Garcia – France
27. Ekaterina Alexandrova
28. Elina Svitolina – Ukraine
29. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
30. Yulia Putintseva – Kazakhstan
31. Katie Boulter – Great Britain
32. Elise Mertens – Belgium

Selected players outside top 32:

33. Dayana Yastremska – Lost in Cincinnati R64
34. Paula Badosa – Cincinnati R16
35. Linda Noskova – Lost in Cincinnati R64
45. Magdalena Frech – Cincinnati R32
46. Taylor Townsend – Cincinnati R16
52. Elina Avanesyan – Cincinnati R16
53. Karolina Muchova – Cincinnati R32