Three Aussies seeded at Wimbledon
Sam Stosur, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic will be seeded at Wimbledon this year after the All England Club released its list of men's and women's singles seeds.
London, UK, 25 June 2015 | AAP
Nick Kyrgios has been elevated to 26th seed at this year’s Wimbledon after surging into the quarterfinals last year with remarkable victories over Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal.
Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic has been seeded 27th, one place below his world ranking.
Sam Stosur is Australia’s only other seed at No.22 in the women’s event.
Unlike the other three Grand Slams in Melbourne, Paris and New York, Wimbledon uses a unique grasscourt formula to assist with its seedings.
It is the only major not to strictly follow world rankings.
Tomic had been hoping both he and Kyrgios, the only two teenage quarterfinalists since Boris Becker in 1986, would gain promotions.
Alas, Tomic’s demotion means he could now face any of the top eight seeds, including heavyweights Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray, as early as the third round.
A top-24 seeding would have guaranteed he couldn’t strike anyone in the top eight until at least the last 16 in the second week of the championships.
Having slipped from a career-high 25th after the French Open to 29th because of injury, illness and inactivity, Kyrgios was always unlikely to make the top 24 seeds.
But the 20-year-old’s elevation to 26th is nevertheless recognition from the All England Club of his grasscourt prowess.
World No.1s Djokovic and Serena Williams were formally named top seeds in the men’s and women’s events on Wednesday.
With the exception of big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, a semifinalist last year, being slotted one place above Spanish veteran David Ferrer at No.7, the seedings remained true to the current top 10 rankings in both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Nadal has been seeded 10th, his lowest standing in more than a decade, after enduring a miserable record at the All England Club in recent times, losing in the second, first and fourth round on his last three visits.
Champion in 2008 and 2010 and ranked No.1 in the world last year when he lost to Kyrgios, the Spaniard was dethroned as French Open champion this month and, despite winning the grasscourt title in Stuttgart, he was then bundled out of Queen’s in his opening match.