Tennis: Wimbledon announce new seedings system

Wimbledon and the other Grand Slam tournaments have announced a new seedings procedure aimed at preventing player boycotts.

There will now be 32 seeds instead of 16 in both singles events with those seeds taken from the top 32 on the ATP Entry System and WTA Tour rankings.

But those seeds will then be re-arranged in accordance with past performances on the relevant surface.

For example, at Wimbledon Pete Sampras would move up from his current world ranking of five as he has won the title seven times in the last eight years, but would be ranked lower than fifth at the French Open where has only ever reached one semi-final.

The move will be seen as a compromise aimed at averting a player boycott threatened by the clay-court specialists at Wimbledon, while maintaining the right of tournament organisers to seed according to surface ability.

Tim Phillips, chairman of the All England Club and Wimbledon Championships, said: "We have consulted widely with the players together with the ATP, WTA and our Grand Slam colleagues and believe we have reached a sensible solution to this important issue.

"We have stayed true to our beliefs that seeding at Wimbledon should take into account players' grass court credentials and at the same time have addressed players' concerns by accepting that the Wimbledon seeds will be the top 32 players in the entry system of each player association.

"We are delighted that our partners in the Grand Slams have also adopted a surface-based approach."

ATP chief executive Mark Miles welcomed the new system but questioned whether it would be necessary to evaluate surface performance so closely at the Australian and US Opens, which are both played on hard courts.

"We previously had asked that Wimbledon abandon their long-standing tradition of using a committee to seed players at the Wimbledon championships," Miles said.

"The use of the order of play committee to determine seedings was a key objection of the players and the ATP and so we were obviously happy they decided to abandon this practice.

"The decision to seed 32 players at the Grand Slams is consistent with the seeding process used at all ATP events.

"A one-to-four ratio of seeds to players is used for all but Grand Slam draws. In a 32-draw event for example, there are eight seeds. Therefore the use of 32 seeds for a 128-draw Grand Slam is consistent with seeding at all other events.

"Additionally we're pleased that the 32 seeds at the Grand Slams will be drawn directly from the ATP's Entry System, the established standard accepted by the ATP, its player and tournament members and the media and fans.

"The players believe that they compete all year to earn the benefit of being seeded at tournaments and this effort should serve as the basis for determining the seeding at a tournament. "