Serena Williams, who is currently ranked 183 in the world following an extended break for maternity leave after winning the Australian Open 18 months ago, has been granted a discretionary seeding, at No25, for the Wimbledon Championships that begin next week.
There had been considerable debate about whether or not Williams, a 23-time Major champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion, should be given special treatment, since the regulations as they stand, while allowing a player a protected ranking—as in the case of long-term injury—into a tournament draw, do not protect the actual ranking from the time they last played.
In Williams’ case, she won in Australia as No2 in the world, subsequently spent another 10 weeks at No1, and was also ranked No1 when she won Wimbledon exactly two years ago.
Williams, who gave birth last September and suffered multiple post-partum complications, returned to competition remarkably quickly, at Indian Wells in March this year, then played in Miami, but opted out of the clay swing to work on her fitness until the French Open. Her return there, however, was truncated after a third-round win due to a pectoral injury.
While there is a formula applied to the men’s draw to compensate for the unique qualities of playing on grass, the same does not apply to the women’s draw, though the All England Club can make an exception if it is “necessary to produce a balanced draw”.
And since Williams took maternity leave, there have been many calls for a special exemption to be applied when a highly-ranked player returning to competition.
However, some have argued that, as in the case of injury absences, such players should work their way back up the ranks, not least because they will displace a higher-ranked colleague.
In the case of Wimbledon, the No32 ranked Dominika Cibulkova is the woman who will miss out unless there are any withdrawals among the 32 seeds. Speaking at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne this week, she explained to the BBC that she was not in favour of making any change:
“Why should I not be seeded if I have the right to be? I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I think it’s just not fair. I have tried and I should be seeded.”
The formula applied to the men’s draw is a complex one, but it has ensured that defending champion Roger Federer is the top seed despite losing the No1 ranking to Rafael Nadal along with the Halle title last weekend. The eight-time champion won in Stuttgart the week before making his run to the Halle final, and is the most prolific male grass-court title-holder.
A couple of other men got significant boosts, too. Marin Cilic, finalist at Wimbledon last year and champion at the Queen’s ATP500 event at the weekend, is promoted to No3 from No5, meaning he cannot meet a higher seed until the semi-finals, while current No4 Juan Martin del Potro slips to No5, so could meet higher-ranked player in the quarter-finals.
One of the biggest boosts has been handed to current No32 Milos Raonic, who rises to No13. He is a former Wimbledon finalist and reached the final of Stuttgart the week before last, but missed chunks of the tour in the interim with injury.
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios have also been promoted among the top 16 seeds after strong runs at the Fever-tree Championships at Queen’s and so cannot meet a higher-ranked player until the fourth round.
Men’s seeds
The formula is: Take the ATP Ranking points at 25 June 2018; Add 100% of the points earned for all grass court tournaments in the immediate past 12-month period prior to 25 June 2018; add 75% of the points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months prior to that.
[NB not playing: Tomas Berdych, No23]
1. Roger Federer
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Marin Cilic
4. Alexander Zverev
5. Juan Martin del Potro
6. Grigor Dimitrov
7. Dominic Thiem
8. Kevin Anderson
9. John Isner
10. David Goffin
11. Sam Querrey
12. Novak Djokovic
13. Milos Raonic
14. Roberto Bautista Agut
15. Diego Schwartzman
16. Nick Kyrgios
17. Borna Coric
18. Lucas Pouille
19. Jack Sock
20. Fabio Fognini
21. Pablo Carreno Busta
22. Kyle Edmund
23. Adrian Mannarino
24. Richard Gasquet
25. Kei Nishikori
26. Hyeon Chung
27. Philipp Kohlschreiber
28. Denis Shapovalov
29. Damir Dzumhur
30. Filip Krajinovic
31. Marco Cecchinato
32. Fernando Verdasco
Women’s seeds
1. Simona Halep
2. Caroline Wozniacki
3. Garbine Muguruza
4. Sloane Stephens
5. Elina Svitolina
6. Caroline Garcia
7. Karolina Pliskova
8. Petra Kvitova
9. Venus Williams
10. Madison Keys
11. Angelique Kerber
12. Jelena Ostapenko
13. Julia Goerges
14. Daria Kasatkina
15. Elise Mertens
16. Coco Vandeweghe
17. Ashleigh Barty
18. Naomi Osaka
19. Magdalena Rybarikova
20. Kiki Bertens
21. Anastasija Sevastova
22. Johanna Konta
23. Barbora Strycova
24. Maria Sharapova
25. Serena Williams
26. Daria Gavrilova
27. Carla Suarez Navarro
28. Anett Kontaveit
29. Mihaela Buzarnescu
30. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
31. Shuai Zhang
32. Agnieszka Radwanksa