Nadal, not Federer, is Aussie Open's top seed
Swiss star had honor for four straight years; Jankovic leads women's field
 PAUL CROCK / AFP/Getty Images Rafael Nadal practices for the Australian Open on Wednesday in Melbourne. |
|
 | Slide show |
 | Week in Sports Pictures Rough and tumble baseball, a grand golf finish, a driver captures the flag, and more. more photos |
 | Interactive |
 | The perfect player Which stars' skills would you include if you could construct the perfect tennis player? Tracy Austin shares her picks. NBCSports.com |
Wimbledon, June 21-July 5 |
 | Video: Tennis from NBC Sports |
 Getty Images Another feat for Federer July 5: Mary Carillo and Jimmy Roberts wrap up the men's finals, where Roger Federer took home his record 15th Grand Slam title. |
| Special feature |
 | NBCSports.com |
Wimbledon analysis |
Check out who to watch heading into the fortnight. Presented by ... |
MELBOURNE, Australia - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal will be the No. 1 seed at the Australian Open starting Monday, ending Roger Federer’s four-year run atop the Melbourne Park draw.
Jelena Jankovic, one of six women to hold the No. 1 ranking last season, also received a top seed for the year’s first major, with three-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams seeded second.
Federer is the No. 2 seed on the men’s side.
Nadal beat Federer in the French Open and Wimbledon finals last season. After winning the Olympic gold medal at Beijing in August, the 22-year-old Spaniard snapped Federer’s record 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1.
He withdrew from the Masters Series event in Paris with tendinitis in his right knee and didn’t play in the season-ending Masters Cup or Spain’s Davis Cup final win over Argentina.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic was given the No. 3 seed and Scottish player Andy Murray, who comes into the tournament off wins at an Abu Dhabi exhibition and at the Qatar Open, is No. 4.
With Nikolay Davydenko withdrawing because of a heel injury, Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — who beat Nadal in the semifinals here last year and then lost the final — received the No. 5 seed, with Gilles Simon at No. 6.
American Andy Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and a three-time semifinalist at the Australian Open, was seeded seventh.
Russia’s Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva, the Olympic finalists, were seeded third and fourth, respectively, behind Jankovic and Williams.
Last year’s Australian Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic was the fifth seed and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was sixth.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova has been sidelined since just after Wimbledon with an injured right shoulder and is not defending her title in Australia.
The draw for the Australian Open will be held Friday.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
LowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TENNIS |
 Tennis Section Front |
| Add Tennis headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links