Six-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer regains top spot from Rafael Nadal, at least in the seedings for the 2010 Wimbledon Open. In the current world rankings, Nadal is still top dog after recently clinching the French Open title.
This swapping of spots of the world's top two tennis men is the most notable change to the official rankings. Wimbledon referee Andrew Jarrett decided not to base the seeding to the top 32 on the ATP list but on their performance.
Following an agreement made with the ATP back in 2002, the seeding order will be determined via an objective and transparent system that will accurately reflect an individual player's success on the grass court.
Jarrett, who acknowledged the recent reversal in the rankings, maintained that the seedings will have no practical effect as Federer and Nadal remain as the leading seeds in their respective halves of the draw.
That being said, Federer will enter the Championship as the defending champion and the official favorite as well.
Never mind the fact that Federer bowed out in the quarterfinals during his campaign to lift the French Open trophy this year.
Nadal, for his part, will be aiming for the trophy that he failed to defend last year due to injury. But the Spaniard signaled his intentions of edging out his biggest rival by winning the French Open and putting in some early work for the grass court season at the Queen’s Club. Nadal lost in the quarterfinals of the tune-up tournament.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are seeded at third and fourth respectively. Murray managed to reach the semi finals at the 2009 Wimbledon Open.
Moreover, Murray was last year’s winner of the prestigious AEGON Championships, thus, standing as a real threat to Federer’s title this year.
Andy Roddick, a familiar fixture in Wimbledon Open finals, was seeded at No. 5, two spots above his official world ranking. Roddick will head into Wimbledon with revenge on his mind after bowing out to Federer last year. The three-time Wimbledon runner-up took Federer to a 16-14 fifth set in last year's final.
Robin Soderling, Nadal’s French Open foe this year, is seeded at sixth.
Nikolay Davydenko, on the other hand, settled for No. 7 seed after skipping the French Open. Davydenko, the 2009 tour finals champion, never reached beyond the fourth round of the Wimbledon Open.
While not affecting the leading seeds, the surface-based changes still reward some with better seedings in Wimbledon. Lleyton Hewitt, for example, is up from 26th in the official rankings to 15th seed. Hewitt is coming off a great win over Federer in last weekend's grass court final in Halle.
The defending Wimbledon champion can take solace from the fact that the loss last week is only his second on grass in 78 matches since 2003.
Another beneficiary of the recent amendment is the Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who moves up from rank 33 to 25th seed. Karlovic looks to improve on his quarterfinal finish at the 2009 Championships.
After a surprisingly impressive performance in last week’s championship at the Queen’s Club, Sam Querrey finds himself elevated three places as a result of the seeding shake-up, from 21st ranked to 18th-seeded.
Aside from the proven performers on the grass court, a couple of clay court players in David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero will also move up.
The surface-based system also affected French players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils, albeit a skid down the seedings one place each.
No matter what the odds, expect a brutal competition amongst these elite tennis players as they try to capture the most prestigious Grand Slam tournament in the world – Wimbled Open.
The Wimbledon Open starts on June 21 and will run until July 4.
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