Tennis:The top 32 Wimbledon seedings fell along predictable lines yesterday with four times defending champion Roger Federer topping the men's side of the draw and French Open champion Justin Henin rated as the best women's player for the two-week grass championships.
Scotland's Andy Murray has been seeded at eight, which reflects his current world ranking. The seeding committee, which is occasionally prone to breaking from the official ATP world rankings because of the unique nature of grass tennis, feel that Murray is good enough to reach the quarter-final stages of the competition before he meets a higher rated player.
But the 20-year-old from Dunblain has not played competitively since he injured his wrist in the first round of the Hamburg Masters at the beginning of last month and subsequently missed out playing at Roland Garros. His place in the draw still hangs in the balance with the first-round matches beginning on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Injury prone in his short career to date, Murray now carries British hopes at Wimbledon as the career of 32-year-old, unseeded Tim Henman slips into its twilight years.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain is the second in the men's draw and American Andy Roddick, twice a runner-up at Wimbledon and winner at Queen's last week, is seeded third.
Unlike the other grand slams where the top 32 seeds in the men's and women's singles are decided purely on world rankings, Wimbledon takes into account results on grass over the past two years, particularly in the men's draw. The chief beneficiary of that process is Czech player Tomas Berdych, who is seeded seven in the men's event compared to a world ranking of 11.
The leading women's seeds go according to ranking with world number one Henin, fresh from clinching a hat-trick of French Open titles, at the top. The world's best on clay, the 2001 finalist is looking for her first Wimbledon triumph. Last year's women's winner Amelie Mauresmo, who was out of sorts in Paris two weeks ago, is fourth seed, behind Russia's Maria Sharapova and the in-form Serbian player, Jelena Jankovic.
Australian Open champion Serena Williams, twice a Wimbledon winner in 2002 and 2003, is the seventh seed, in accordance with her world ranking, while her older sister, Venus, who won the third of her titles in 2005, has suffered a litany of injuries which kept her out for the beginning of the season earlier this year. As a result, she is seeded 24th, but be sure she will be seen as the dangerous player in her side of the draw.
Russian world men's number four Nikolay Davydenko drops to sixth in the seeding, meaning Serbia's Novak Djokovic and hard-hitting Chilean Fernando Gonzalez are bumped up to fourth and fifth respectively, while the world number seven, Tommy Robredo, finds himself down at 11th because of his poor record on grass.
Marcos Baghdatis, a semi-finalist last year, is another beneficiary and is seeded 10th, six places higher than his world ranking. Likewise, veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman finds himself seeded 20th, compared to a world ranking of 31, after his surprise last-four run in 2006.
