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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Monday, June 18 |
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| Hingis is women's top seed Associated Press | |||
WIMBLEDON, England -- Wimbledon ignored the ATP rankings
Monday and made seven-time champion Pete Sampras the top-seeded
player in the tournament's new format.
Sampras slipped one place to fifth in the rankings announced
earlier in the day. But Wimbledon maintained its policy of favoring
grass-court players by putting Sampras at No. 1.
Andre Agassi, second in the ATP rankings and a Wimbledon winner
in 1992, will be seeded No. 2 when the Grand Slam tournament begins
June 25.
In the women's field, Martina Hingis is seeded No. 1, followed
by defending champion Venus Williams. Lindsay Davenport, the 1999
champion and losing finalist last year, is No. 3. Jennifer
Capriati, halfway to a Grand Slam sweep after winning the
Australian and French Opens, is No. 4.
The draw for the men and women is Tuesday.
Australia's Patrick Rafter, last year's runner-up, is No. 3
among the men, with U.S. champion Marat Safin of Russia at No. 4.
Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian who on Sunday won the grass-court
tournament at Queen's Club, is No. 5.
For the first time in its 124-year history, Wimbledon will have
32 seeds instead of 16.
Organizers doubled the number of seeds in response to the
clay-court players who contend the seeding system is biased toward
grass-court players.
French Open runner-up Alex Corretja, who had threatened to
boycott Wimbledon over the issue, pulled out of the tournament,
citing a leg injury.
French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, ranked No. 1 and another
Wimbledon critic, withdrew last week because of a groin injury. The
Brazilian was a critic of the old Wimbledon format.
Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero is the only prominent clay-court
player in the men's draw. He is seeded No. 8, four places below his
ranking.
Anna Kournikova became the latest women's withdrawal Monday. She
has a foot stress fracture that has sidelined her since the end of
February.
All four Grand Slam tournaments announced last week they were
doubling the number of seeded players, with the order in the men's
field determined by a formula that assesses past performance on
each event's playing surface.
The new system ensures that the top 32 players in the ATP and
WTA women's rankings will be seeded. In the past, the Wimbledon
committee adjusted seedings subjectively based on past performances
on grass.
Sampras hasn't won a tournament since capturing Wimbledon last
summer for the seventh time in eight years. He lost to Hewitt in
the semifinals at Queen's Club on Sunday.
Hewitt beat Britain's Tim Henman in the Queen's final. They
might well be two of Sampras' main rivals this year. Two other top
grass-courters, 1996 champion Richard Krajicek and three-time
quarterfinalist Mark Philippoussis, have withdrawn with injuries.
Apart from Kournikova, other big names missing from the women's
draw are Monica Seles, who skipped the French Open because of a
recurring foot injury, and former French Open champion Mary Pierce,
who has a back problem.
Capriati withdrew from this week's grass-court tournament in the
Netherlands because of fatigue but is expected to play at
Wimbledon.
Davenport is playing in the pre-Wimbledon tournament at
Eastbourne after being sidelined since the end of March with a knee
injury.
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ALSO SEE Seles, Kournikova join Wimbledon no-show list Wimbledon seeds | |
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