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Williams sisters gain ground in new Wimbledon seedings
Defending champion Serena Williams has been bumped up the Wimbledon pecking order from her world ranking of 10 to No 1 seed, organizers said on Wednesday. In the absence of injured world No 1 and No 2, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, Serena has been given top billing at the grasscourt Grand Slam. Her elder sister Venus, who triumphed at the All England Club in 2000 and 2001 before finishing runner-up to Serena the following two years, has also been elevated five places from her WTA ranking and named third seed. Newly-crowned French Open winner Anastasia Myskina, the highest ranked woman in the draw, was seeded second sandwiched between the Williams sisters. In the men's draw, champion Roger Federer leads the seedings. Organizers largely followed the ATP's world rankings in determining the seeds, with Andy Roddick, claycourter Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian following Federer in the top four spots. Four-time semi-finalist Tim Henman was nudged above Juan Carlos Ferrero as fifth seed due to his grasscourt expertise. But it was in the women's draw that the seeding committee deviated most from the world rankings. The Williams sisters were elevated in line with a policy women's tennis organizers use to protect the seedings of players who have dropped in the rankings due to injury. Wimbledon tweak Although the WTA made the recommendation, the Wimbledon seeding committee made the final decision, a Wimbledon spokesman said on Wednesday. "Generally speaking the club goes down the rankings," the spokesman said. "But they retain the right to tweak it if they see fit. "In this case there were special WTA recommendations... and what the club has done is take that into account." Both sisters missed the second half of last season through injury. Their last match of 2003 was the Wimbledon final. Serena, who underwent knee surgery last August, made a winning comeback from an eight-month injury layoff on March 26 in Miami and successfully defended her title at the NASDAQ-100 Open. Wimbledon's decision is in line with the policies of the Australian and French Opens earlier this year. Venus was moved from her then-world ranking of 11 to No 3 seed at the Australian Open in January. Last month Serena was pushed up the French Open seedings from her world ranking of seven to No 2 just behind Belgian Henin-Hardenne. Venus was boosted from a ranking of nine to fourth seed. Men's seeds 1. Roger Federer (Switzerland), 2. Andy Roddick (USA), 3. Guillermo Coria (Argentina), 4. David Nalbandian (Argentina), 5. Tim Henman (Britain), 6. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain), 7. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), 8. Rainer Schuettler (Germany); 9. Carlos Moya (Spain), 10. Sebastien Grosjean (France), 11. Mark Philippoussis (Australia), 12. Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands), 13. Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand), 14. Mardy Fish (USA), 15. Nicolas Massu (Chile), 16. Jiri Novak (Czech Republic), 17. Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden), 18. Feliciano Lopez (Spain), 19. Marat Safin (Russia), 20. Tommy Rebredo (Spain). Women's seeds: 1. Serena Williams (USA), 2. Anastasia Myskina (Russia), 3. Venus Williams (USA), 4. Amelie Mauresmo (France), 5. Lindsay Davenport (USA), 6. Elena Dementieva (Russia), 7. Jennifer Capriati (USA), 8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia), 9. Paola Suarez (Argentina), 10. Nadia Petrova (Russia), 11. Ai Sugiyama (Japan), 12. Vera Zvonareva (Russia), 13. Maria Sharapova (Russia), 14. Silvia Farina Elia (Italy), 15. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland), 16. Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (Israel), 17. Chanda Rubin (USA), 18. Francesca Schiavone (Italy), 19. Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia), 20. Elena Bovina (Russia). |
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