Seeds of discontent as Nadal takes fifth at SW19

Instead, Nadal found his seeding unmoved from his world ranking of fifth, an arguably false position caused by a seven-month injury lay-off from which he returned in February.

At No 4 in the seedings ahead of him stood David Ferrer, a fellow Spaniard, who has reached one Wimbledon quarter-final and never won a major.

Nadal has won the grass-court grand slam twice, in 2008 and 2010, and been a runner-up in south-west London three times, and has made a mockery this year of suggestions his career could be at a crossroads after the knee trouble that forced him onto the sidelines for the second half of last season.

Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andy Murray and Andre Agassi, said Wimbledon’s decision was a “100 per cent joke”.

It came about not through deliberation of the tournament’s selection committee, but by the mathematical formula adopted by Wimbledon after liaison with the men’s tour, the ATP, in 2002.

World ranking is the first factor taken into consideration, with a player’s points supplemented by another layer of points gleaned from the grass-court events he has played in the past 12 months, and a final tranche coming in the form of 75 per cent of the points he collected in the previous 12 months.

That meant Nadal’s run to the 2011 final counted in his favour, but last year’s second-round loss to Czech player Lukas Rosol hit him hard.

While Nadal may wonder what more he could have done this year to earn a top-four seeding – since his return he has lost just two matches and landed his eighth French Open title – there was no doubting Wimbledon’s decision would make tomorrow’s draw suddenly more than the routine occasion it can typically be.

If the leading players progress according to their seeding, Nadal will lie in wait in the quarter-finals for one of world No 1 Novak Djokovic, No 2 Andy Murray, defending champion Roger Federer, or Ferrer.

The potential therefore remains for Murray to have to overcome Nadal, Federer and Djokovic in succession from the last-eight stage onwards to achieve his dream of adding the Wimbledon title to his US Open triumph.

Gilbert wrote on Twitter: “I will say 100 per cent joke. Ferrer seeded over Rafa, no.”

Wimbledon say of their seeding system: “The seeding order is determined using an objective and transparent system to reflect more accurately an individual player’s grass-court achievements.”

A human touch, rather than the computer’s calculations, might have produced a different outcome though. The likes of Murray, Djokovic and Federer would argue that, to be champion, a player must beat the best and that it should not matter at what stage they are encountered.

Defending champion Serena Williams is the women’s top seed, ahead of Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska, who make up the top four.

There was an early alteration when Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew due to an abdominal strain, and the world No 26’s move meant the players behind her each moved up a place, with Czech Klara Zakopalova promoted from rank and file to the No 32 seeding.

Top 16 seedings for Wimbledon

MEN

1. Novak Djokovic (Ser)

2. Andy Murray (Gbr)

3. Roger Federer (Swi)

4. David Ferrer (Spa)

5. Rafael Nadal (Spa)

6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra)

7. Tomas Berdych (Cze)

8. Juan Martin del Potro (Arg)

9. Richard Gasquet (Fra)

10. Marin Cilic (Cro)

11. Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi)

12. Kei Nishikori (Jpn)

13. Tommy Haas (Ger)

14. Janko Tipsarevic (Ser)

15. Nicolas Almagro (Spa)

16. Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger)

WOMEN

1. Serena Williams (USA)

2. Victoria Azarenka (Blr)

3. Maria Sharapova (Rus)

4. Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol)

5. Sara Errani (Ita)

6. Li Na (Chn)

7. Angelique Kerber (Ger)

8. Petra Kvitova (Cze)

9. Caroline Wozniacki (Den)

10. Maria Kirilenko (Rus)

11. Roberta Vinci (Ita)

12. Ana Ivanovic (Ser)

13. Nadia Petrova (Rus)

14. Samantha Stosur (Aus)

15. Marion Bartoli (Fra)

16. Jelena Jankovic (Ser)

Simon has too much for battling Edmund

Yorkshire teenager Kyle Edmund exited the AEGON International last night after a plucky defeat to second seed Gilles Simon in Eastbourne.

The 18-year-old lost on his senior tour debut at Queen’s last week, only to then secure his first ATP Tour-level win against French qualifier Kenny De Schepper on Monday.

However, Edmund, one of seven Britons awarded wild cards for Wimbledon, was unable to cause a shock in the round of 16 as Simon secured a hard-fought 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/3) win at Devonshire Park.

The young Beverley player more than held his own on Centre Court, epitomised by the fact he struck back immediately after Simon broke in the seventh game.

In a performance that belied his years, Edmund even forced a set point in the 10th game, only for Simon to hold serve and take the set by sneaking the tie-break.

The Frenchman continued to go toe-to-toe with the young Briton and only managed to eke his way past the impressive teenager by winning another tie-break.

“I was delighted with my performance,” said Edmund, ranked 442 in the world.

“I played well the other day so I just thought if I put my game on court like I did on Monday that would be the best way of giving myself a chance to win.

“I served well again and he was a completely different player to the guy I played on Monday so it was a different game style

“I put everything out there and even though I lost I was still very pleased with the way I played.

“It gives you confidence. He is 16th in the world and I got pretty close so confidence-wise it is massive.

“For me, learning and going up the ranks of tennis it shows where I can play and I have just got to use this as a positive.”

It was a bad day for Britain, as Caroline Wozniacki beat British No 1 Laura Robson 6-4 6-4, Heather Watson lost 6-1 3-6 6-2 to Elena Vesnina and Elena Baltacha slipped to a 4-6 6-4 6-3 defeat to world No 10 Maria Kirilenko.

Sheffield’s Jonny Marray and doubles partner Colin Fleming are through to the semi-finals after beating Eric Butorac and Andy Ram in straight sets 7-5 7-6(2).