With Wimbledon underway since Monday, many want to enjoy the matches but are totally unable to enjoy the technical operations of the thing and understand the rationale between seeding placements. With a formal seeding announcement Wednesday, and already matches under way, the following is a relative handbook to more knowledgeable enjoyment.
First of all, seedings are essentially straight-forward; right out of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association). The difference is that Wimbledon’s management committee adjusts men’s single seedings based on creating a more realistic alignment between top players on grass.
The explanation for Wimbledon’s formula of men’s seedings is centred on the relatively outdated terminology, “Entry System Position,” which simply means rankings. Basically seeds are the top 32 players on ATP Entry System Position (ESP) or rankings, rearranged with what has been called a ‘surface-based system’. This was determined in 2002 after an agreement made between the ATP, and is considered collectively an objective way of determining seeding to reflect each player’s individual court achievements. It adheres to the following formula:
Start with ESP or rankings on the 14th of June 2010, and add 100 per cent of points earned for grass court tournaments in the past 12 months, with 75 per cent of points earned for best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that.
This accounts for how Roger Federer, who’s rated No. 2 in the world, can have a seeding as No. 1, and vice versa for Raphael Nadal.
Going into Wimbledon Federer had 8,525 ranking points. Likewise, he gets to add 2,150 points in grass court results from the past 12 months (2000 for winning Wimbledon ’09 and 150 for being runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt in Halle, Germany, on Sunday). Then he gets to add to that 75 per cent of the 1,200 (900 points) points obtained for Wimbledon runner-up in ’08.
Nadal has 8,745 ranking points. He gets to add 45 points for reaching the quarter-finals of Queen’s Club in London last week, and 75% of the 2,000 (1,500 points) obtained for winning Wimbledon in 2008.
So Federer’s adjusted points combined come to 11,575, and Nadal’s 10,290.
Due to these methods of seeding, some players get to enjoy serious seeding benefits in Wimbledon. Hewitt, for example, is ranked No. 26 in the world but moved to No. 15 largely because he beat Halle Sunday and had a quarter-final finish at Wimbledon last year. He won Wimbledon in 2002, and has recently come off a hip and knee surgery.
It’s a bit of a professional mish-mash right now for the top players, because aside from Nadal and Federer No. 3 seed Noavk Djokovic and No. 4 Andy Murray haven’t been playing well as of late. No. 5 Andy Roddick, one of the Wimbledon finalists last year (16-14 set to Federer), went out early in the second round of the Queen’s Club last week and No. 6 Robin Soderling walks into the event without a grass-court event in 2010.
Aside from being seeds No. 7 and seeds No. 8, Nikolay Dayydenko, just back from a three month wrist injury and Fernando Verdasco, consist but unremarkable on grass, are not being viewed as serious threats this time around.
In the women’s category, seeding is headed by players who’ve accrued eight of the last 10 Wimbledon titles— No. 1 seed Serena (3) and No. 2 Venus (5) Williams.
Players expected to be legitimate contenders are seeders No. 6 Samantha Stosur, No. 8 Kim Clijsters, No. 16 Maria Sharapova, and No. 17 Justine Henin.
As the tournament gets going it is sure to be a nail-biter and one for the history books.