The seeds for Wimbledon 2022 are out and defending champion Novak Djokovic is the men`s top seed. The Serbian Tennis star could face his arch-rival, Rafael Nadal, in the final as both the Tennis greats are in different halves of the draw. The duo met in this year`s Roland Garros quarter-final where the Spaniard triumphed.
100 years of history. Ready for new chapters.
The Stage Awaits.#Wimbledon #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/KO4raqm5ab
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 6, 2022
Organisers of the grasscourt Grand Slam have banned players from Russia and Belarus from playing at this year`s Wimbledon following Moscow`s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a `special operation`. Zverev had surgery on torn ligaments in his right ankle this month after he was forced to retire from his French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic, who was unable to defend his 2021 Australian Open title and the 2,000 ranking points he earned due to his non-vaccinated status against COVID-19, recently lost his world number one spot to Medvedev.
The Serbian, who has won the last three editions of the grasscourt major, will slip further down the rankings after Wimbledon as he will lose another 2,000 points with the ATP and WTA stripping the tournament of points.
The absence of Medvedev and Zverev means Nadal, who is halfway through a possible calendar year Slam after winning the Australian and French Open titles, to be seeded second.
Britain has two players in the top 10 seeds at their home major with Cameron Norrie ninth while U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu is 10th in the absence of Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka. Poland`s world number one Iga Swiatek will be the women`s top seed with Estonian Annett Kontaveit the number two.
Wimbledon organisers had previously used a computer-based system favouring results on grass courts in the previous two years to determine the seedings but from the 2021 edition seedings mirror the world rankings.