LONDON: Champion Roger Federer will be number one seed for next week`s Wimbledon championships despite being overtaken in the world rankings by Rafael Nadal.

Federer, who claimed a sixth Wimbledon title in the absence of the injured Nadal last year, has benefited from the All England Club`s unique seeding policy that takes in grasscourt pedigree and does not always stick rigidly to world rankings.

Nadal, Wimbledon winner in 2008 and who returned to world number one after taking the French Open for a fifth time this month, will be second seed with Novak Djokovic third and home hope Andy Murray in fourth spot.

The women`s seeding does stick to the WTA ranking list with defending champion Serena Williams at the top of the draw and sister Venus seeded to meet her in the final.

Andy Roddick, three times runner-up to Federer, including last year, is seeded fifth in the men`s draw, against his world ranking of seven.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, has been rewarded for his victory over Federer in the final of the Halle grasscourt tournament on Sunday with the 15th seeding spot, 11 places higher than his ATP ranking.

With no points to defend from this year`s championships Nadal could open a sizeable gap in the rankings to Federer should he progress to the latter stages.

There are only 220 points between the two players but Federer has 2,000 to defend.

The Swiss player is one week short of Pete Sampras`s all-time record for weeks spent at number one in the rankings, the American managing it for 286 weeks.

BDST: 1248hrs, June 17, 2010
SA