TENNIS

Who are the top 10 men’s seeds at Wimbledon?

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are the top two seeds at Wimbledon, throwing up the possibility of a first final between the pair in SW19 since 2011.

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Wimbledon has issued the list of seeds for the 2022 Championships and circumstance has thrown up the possibility of a hypothetical final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the defending champion. The Serb is the top seed, despite losing his number one ranking to Daniil Medvedev, while the Spaniard, who has won the first two majors of the season in Melbourne and Paris, is seeded second. That means that Nadal and Djokovic will both head up the top and bottom sections of the draw, thusly avoiding each other until the final, should both make it that far.

Medvedev’s absence, due to the All-England Club’s controversial decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with Alexander Zverev’s ankle injury – sustained during the semi-finals at Roland Garros when he was playing Nadal – means that Djokovic and the Spaniard have both been bumped up the seedings to one and two (Medvedev and Zverez currently occupy the top two places in the ATP ranking).

Nadal-Djokovic rivalry limited on grass

Finals between Djokovic and Nadal are nothing new at Grand Slam tournaments. In total the pair have contested nine major finals and at least one each at all four of the slams, but at Wimbledon it is less common, with their only meeting in the final coming in 2011, Djokovic winning in four quick sets: 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

In fact, Nadal and Djokovic have only met three times at Wimbledon and on just four occasions on grass overall, counting one match at Queen’s, with two wins each.

Until 2019, Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam tournament not to follow the ATP and WTA rankings when deciding seeding, instead employing a system based on past results on grass. This was criticized by many players, including Nadal, and the All-England club aligned with the other three majors last year by basing seeding on current rankings.

Wimbledon 2022: top 10 men’s seeds

1: Novak Djokovic

2: Rafael Nadal

3: Casper Ruud

4: Stefano Tsitsipas

5: Carlos Alcaraz

6: Felix Auger-Aliassime

7: Hubert Hurkacz

8: Matteo Berrettini

9: Cameron Norrie

10: Jannik Sinner

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