Wimbledon nightmare for rivals as Nadal seeded 5th
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, June 20, 2013
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Nadal kisses French Open trophy. |
Rafael Nadal could face world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, defending champion Roger Federer or home favorite Andy Murray as early as the Wimbledon quarterfinals after he was seeded fifth for the grasscourt major yesterday.
Tomorrow's draw for the tournament, which begins on Monday, could now produce a nightmare scenario for top three seeds Djokovic, Murray and Federer if any of them end up being in the same quarter as 2008 and 2010 winner Nadal.
The Wimbledon seeding reflects Nadal's current ranking, with the Mallorcan behind fourth-ranked Spanish compatriot David Ferrer whom he beat to win an eighth French Open title this month.
Wimbledon is the only grand slam that does not automatically follow the men's rankings when seedings are decided. Instead, officials rely on a three-stage formula which also takes into account grasscourt performances of the past two seasons.
As Nadal suffered a shock second-round exit in London 12 months ago, after which his ranking slipped as he spent seven months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Wimbledon's seeding formula failed to bump him above Ferrer, who reached the quarterfinals last year.
John McEnroe, the retired three-time Wimbledon champion, said on Tuesday that it would be 'totally wrong' for 12-time grand slam champion Nadal to be seeded outside the top four.
US Open champion Murray had already resigned himself to a possible last-eight clash with Nadal. "I know there will be a lot of interest in the draw this year as Rafael Nadal looks like being seeded fifth but as a player you can't get too obsessed about the draw," Murray said in a column for the BBC website on Monday.
"I'd sign up to be in the quarterfinals against Rafa tomorrow if someone offered me that."
There were no surprises among the women with five-time champion Serena Williams named top seed ahead of Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in second and third, respectively.
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