Wimbledon seeds watch

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Wilson Blade 9

Seeds for the UK’s favorite sporting event have been released. 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 in the past two years.

However, you will notice that player seeds are pretty much in accordance with their world ranking. The only major exception is Venus Williams who is ranked 31st in the world, but is seeded 24th.

Here’s a list of ladies’ singles seedings:

1. Belgium’s Justine Henin is seeded at the top. She’s the world’s best player on clay, having four French Open titles as a proof. At the moment she is definitely in form, and therefore has high chances of completing a career slam. The only grand slam title she misses is one from Wimbledon, where she was a finalist in 2001 and 2006.

2. Russia’s Maria Sharapova considers the grass-court grand slam her favorite tournament and this year she is confident that she can repeat her 2004 success when she took the Wimbledon trophy. The 20-year-old Sharapova has been a semi-finalist since then.

“Grass definitely suits my game. With the power and the big first serve I feel I can get a good start on the point,” she said.

Let me remind you that last week Sharapova reached the finals of the DFS Classic (played on grass), where she was defeated by Jelena Jankovic.

3. Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic has been outstanding this year, establishing herself as an all-surface player (in 2007 she won titles on clay, hard-court and on grass).

The 22-year-old played at Wimbledon four times, but has never been beyond the fourth round, a point she reached last year before being beaten by the ninth seed Anastasia Myskina. However, I must mention that last year in the third round Jankovic defeated Venus Williams who possesses five grand slam titles, three of which are from Wimbledon.

4. France’s Amelie Mauresmo can be proud of her results in 2006, in which she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. This year, however, she was not that successful – at the Australian Open she was defeated in the fourth round, and at Roland Garros this month she lasted no further than the third round – both times she was overwhelmed by the 20-year-old Czech Lucie Safarova.

“I’m confident that my game can come really quickly on the grass — and it will have to because I’ve not had a lot of tennis behind me,” the former No. 1 Mauresmo said.

5. Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova has had inconsistent Wimbledon results with a first round exit, a third round exit, and two quarterfinal appearances in the last four years. Kuznetsova has no titles in 2007, but reached finals three times — in Doha, Indian Wells, and Berlin.

6. Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic is a fast rising 19-year-old star, who became increasingly popular after reaching the final of Roland Garros less than too weeks ago. So far, her best performance at Wimbledon has been to reach the third round.7. America’s Serena Williams has eight grand slam titles to her credit, two of which are from Wimbledon (2002, 2003). She began the year ranked 81st in the world after enduring a year punctuated by injuries, but then surprised everyone and took the Australian Open title, defeating Sharapova 6-1, 6-2.

8. Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze played at Wimbledon only two times, her best result being the third round last year.

9. Swiss Martina Hingis was the youngest Wimbledon champion when she won in 1997. Hingis returned to the tour last year after a three year break recovering from injuries and was beaten at Wimbledon last year, by Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the third round.

10. Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova has played at Wimbledon since 2001, and had her best result in 2002 when she reached the quarter-finals. Her favorite surface is grass, and Wimbledon is her favorite tournament.

11. Nadia PETROVA (RUS)
12. Elena DEMENTIEVA (RUS)
13. Dinara SAFINA (RUS)
14. Nicole VAIDISOVA (CZE)
15. Patty SCHNYDER (SUI)
16. Shahar PEER (ISR)
17. Tatiana GOLOVIN (FRA)
18. Na LI (CHN)
19. Marion BARTOLI (FRA)
20. Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO)
21. Sybille BAMMER (AUT)
22. Tathiana GARBIN (ITA)
23. Anabel MEDINA GARRIGUES (ESP)
24. Venus WILLIAMS (USA)
25. Alona BONDARENKO (UKR)
26. Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE)
27. Ai SUGIYAMA (JPN)
28. Samantha STOSUR (AUS)
29. Mara SANTANGELO (ITA)
30. Francesca SCHIAVONE (ITA)
31. Olga POUTCHKOVA (RUS)
32. Michaella KRAJICEK (NED)

BTW: The draw for the 2007 Championships will be held at the All England Club on Friday 22 June at 10.00am (BST).

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