subject: Andy Murray seeded fourth at Wimbledon [print this page] Andy Murray seeded fourth at WimbledonAndy Murray seeded fourth at Wimbledon
British number one Andy Murray has been seeded fourth for Wimbledon, with defending champion and world number two Roger Federer handed the top seeding.
Defending champion Serena Williams is top seed for the women's singles with sister Venus at number two.
Federer, six-time Wimbledon champion, received the number one seeding despite being supplanted by Rafael Nadal at the top of the world rankings.
The grass-court Grand Slam starts on 21 June with the draw on Friday.
Wimbledon Hospitality
Spaniard Nadal, who was unable to defend his Wimbledon title last year because of a knee injury, overtook his Swiss rival after winning his fifth French Open crown in Paris earlier this month.
The 23-year-old Murray will be desperate for an improvement in fortune having been hampered by a knee injury and beaten by American Mardy Fish in the third round at Queen's.
The Scot has admitted he needs more grass-court action and will face former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt at London's Hurlingham club on Thursday.
Murray, Britain's number one, suffered a four-set loss to American Andy Roddick in last year's Wimbledon semi-final and will find out on Friday whether he is in line to face Federer or Nadal in the last four.
Three-time Wimbledon runner-up Roddick, who went on to lose a five-set thriller to Federer in the 2009 final, moves up to fifth seed because of his record on grass, despite being ranked world number seven.
Australia's Hewitt, ranked 26 in the world, rises to 15th seed after an impressive win over Federer on grass in the Halle final in Germany on Sunday - only Federer's second defeat on grass in 78 matches.
Discretion is down to the All England Club which seeds the players based on their record on grass.
Wimbledon Hospitality
Wimbledon referee Andrew Jarrett said: "While the seeding positions of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are reversed from their current rankings, there is no practical effect since they remain the leading seeds in their respective halves of the draw."
The women's seedings stuck to the world rankings, with the possibility of a fifth all-Williams Wimbledon final following Serena's win over Venus last year for her third Wimbledon title.
Caroline Wozniacki is third seed and because of the withdrawal of the injured world number five Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic is fourth seed ahead of French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.
Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, who are both returning to Wimbledon after coming out of retirement, are seeded number eight and 17 respectively.
