The seeding ceremony recently took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, where the top 32 seeds were announced for this year's Wimbledon. For the most part, the men’s seeding generally followed their actual ATP ranking. As for the women's side, there was a different method in seeding. Just like the men, most of the women were seeded according to their ranking; however, there were certain players who were seeded way above their ranking.
2011 Wimbledon Men's Seeds
1) Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
3) Roger Federer (SUI)
4) Andy Murray (GBR)
5) Robin Soderling (SWE)
6) Tomas Berdych (CZE)
7) David Ferrer (ESP)
8 ) Andy Roddick (USA)
9)Gael Monfils (FRA)
10) Mardy Fish (USA)
11) Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
13) Viktor Troicki (SRB)
14) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
15) Gilles Simon (FRA)
16) Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
17) Richard Gasquet (FRA)
18) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
19) Michael Llodra (FRA)
20) Florian Mayer (GER)
21) Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
22) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
23) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)
24) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
25) Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)
26) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
27) Marin Cilic (CRO)
28) David Nalbandian (ARG)
29) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
30) Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
31) Milos Raonic (CAN)
32) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
For the men, everything looks to be acceptable in my eyes. However, I do think an argument can be made for switching Roger Federer to the number two seed, making Novak Djokovic the three seed. Yes, of course Djokovic is having the season of a lifetime thus far, but given Federer’s history and reputation on grass, it would be the right thing to have given the Swiss maestro the second seed. If you’re questioning why I feel this way, then after you see the way the women’s seeds were put together, your questions should be answered.
2011 Wimbledon Women's Seeds
1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
3) Na LI (CHN)
4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
5) Maria Sharapova (RUS)
6) Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
7) Serena Williams (USA)
8) Petra Kvitova (CZE)
9) Marion Bartoli (FRA)
10) Samantha Stosur (AUS)
11) Andrea Petkovic (GER)
12) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
13) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
14) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
15) Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
16) Julia Goerges (GER)
17) Kaia Kanepi (EST)
18) Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
19) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
20) Shuai Peng (CHN)
21) Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
22) Shahar Peer (ISR)
23) Venus Williams (USA)
24) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
25) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
26) Maria Kirilenko (RUS)
27) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)
28) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)
29) Roberta Vinci (ITA)
30) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
31) Lucie Safarova (CZE)
32) Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
As you go down through the women's seeds, you may not recognize a lot of the names, but you should recognize at least two. The first would be Serena Williams, who is seeded seventh. Do you remember the last time she played a tournament? That would be last year in the 2010 Wimbledon. Since then, a freak accident cutting her foot on broken glass put her on the shelf for a few months. Two surgeries later, we thought Serena would be returning, but a tragic scare set Serena back even further, as a blood clot in her lungs formed which forced her into emergency care at the hospital. It’s been nearly a year since we last saw Serena on the courts, and this past week, she started her comeback in Eastbourne, England in a tune-up tournament for Wimbledon. Serena, after winning her first match, was eliminated by Vera Zvonareva in three sets. Out of respect from the members of Wimbledon, Serena was given the eighth seed, even though she is ranked 26th in the world. Reason for this is based on her success there last year, and on the grass at Wimbledon in general, hence why I believe Federer should be the number two seed. Venus Williams is in the same boat as well, being seeded 23rd when she is actually ranked 33rd. It doesn’t look to me that anybody is complaining, so then lets play on!
If you know your tennis, you’ll see a big name missing from the women’s field, and that would be Belgium’s Kim Clijsters who was forced to withdraw after re-aggravating a foot injury in the UNICEF Open, a tune-up tournament for Wimbledon. Clijsters, who was seeded second, wasn’t even sure if she would play the French Open, but barely made it only to exit in the second round. Without Clijsters now, everyone is bumped up one seed except Caroline Wozniacki who remains the top seed.
