Wimbledon seeding likely for Williams

Three-time French Open champion Serena Williams will not be handed a seeding by French Open organisers but Wimbledon looks like another matter.

No French Open seeding for Serena Williams.

Wimbledon is expected to seed Serena Williams - unlike the French Open. (AAP)

Serena Williams will almost certainly be seeded at this year's Wimbledon championships despite being snubbed by French Open organisers, the All England Club confirmed on Tuesday.

The American is expected to play at Roland Garros next week, where she has won the title three times, but without being seeded she could conceivably meet reigning champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) confirmed on Tuesday that its seedings would be based on the latest WTA rankings.

Williams, who has won 23 grand slam singles titles, is world ranked a lowly 453rd having returned this year from having a baby.

She has not played a tournament since Miami in March and pulled out of the claycourt events in Madrid and Rome.

While the French Open sticks rigidly to rankings, Wimbledon's seeding committee allows itself some "wiggle room" according to an All England Club official.

Unlike the men's seedings which use the ATP rankings in conjunction with a formula based on results on grasscourts, the women's seedings can be tweaked on the agreement of a committee.

"The seeding order follows the WTA ranking list, except where in the opinion of the committee, a change is necessary to produce a balanced draw," is the All England Club's official line on it's website.

Williams has won Wimbledon six times but missed last year's tournament while she was on maternity leave.

She gave birth to daughter Alexis last September.

Despite her lowly ranking she will be able to play at Roland Garros under the WTA's special ranking rule, which allows players returning from a long spells out to use their ranking at the start of their absence.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP

Tags

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world