SW19 seedings see Fed top the billing

 

Originally published on: 16/06/10 16:48

Contain the excitement for just a few more days. The time is nigh. The world’s greatest tennis tournament is just days away. That one time of year you can drink copious amounts of pimms on a weekday and get away with it. Yep, the glorious Wimbledon fortnight is oh so nearly upon us.

It’s felt like an incredibly long time since Andy Roddick kept the watching world guessing before eventually falling to Roger Federer in the final at SW19. It’s even longer since another bout of ‘andymonium’ helped catapult Andy Murray to his career-best semi-final finish at the All England Club.

This year, Roddick returns to leafy South West London with another American dream. Rafael Nadal will target his eighth Grand Slam title – two weeks after picking up his seventh – on his first return to Wimbledon’s Centre Court since his triumph in 2008. Murray of course, believes 2010 will be his time.

Seeking to defy all those hopes for a Sampras equaling-seventh title, will be Roger Federer, who has already been dealt a favour in his plans for a 17th Grand Slam title after he was named the top seed for the championships despite slipping to No.2 in the world following Nadal’s French Open win.

Under an agreement made with the ATP in 2002, the top 32 players on the ATP World Tour rankings list will all be seeded, but their order will be re-arranged based on their performances on grass over the past two years.

The surface-appropriate seedings have been worked out using a simple bit of mathematics. The player’s ATP points are used as the basis, to which 100% of the points they have earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months are added, as are 75% of the points they have earned for their best performance in a grass court tournament in the 12 months before that.

Under the system, Federer – last year’s champion and a finalist in Halle last week – is top seed, while world No.1 Rafael Nadal, who missed the chance to defend his 2008 title with tendiniits in his knees, will be seeded second.

The method has particularly benefited the man who beat Federer in Halle – 2002 Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt, who is seeded 15th despite being ranked down at world No.26 after undergoing hip surgery earlier this year.

It’s also good news for world No.35 Philipp Kohlschreiber and 36th-ranked Tommy Robredo, who both manage to scrape a seeding under the system.

All other seedings – men’s doubles, ladies singles and ladies doubles- will be based on the official ATP and WTA rankings lists. 

2010 Wimbledon Championships, Gentlemen’s singles seedings

1 Roger FEDERER (SUI) [1]
2 Rafael NADAL (ESP) [2]
3 Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) [3]
4 Andy MURRAY (GBR) [4]
5 Andy RODDICK (USA) [5]
6 Robin SODERLING (SWE) [6]
7 Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS) [7]
8 Fernando VERDASCO (ESP) [8]
9 David FERRER (ESP) [9]
10 Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (FRA) [10]
11 Marin CILIC (CRO) [11]
12 Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) [12]
13 Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS) [13]
14 Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP) [14]
15 Lleyton HEWITT (AUS) [15]
16 Jurgen MELZER (AUT) [16]
17 Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO) [17]
18 Sam QUERREY (USA) [18]
19 Nicolas ALMAGRO (ESP) [19]
20 Stanislas WAWRINKA (SUI) [20]
21 Gael MONFILS (FRA) [21]
22 Radek STEPANEK (CZE) [22]
23 Feliciano LOPEZ (ESP) [23]
24 John ISNER (USA) [24]
25 Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP) [26]
26 Thomaz BELLUCCI (BRA) [27]
27 Gilles SIMON (FRA) [28]
28 Ernests GULBIS (LAT) [29]
29 Albert MONTANES (ESP) [30]
30 Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER (GER) [31]
31 Tommy ROBREDO (ESP) [32]

32 Victor Hanescu (ROM) [32]

 

 

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