Each year during the weeks leading up to Wimbledon fortnight, players and tennis fans wait with anticipation for the announcement of the tournament’s seeding. For the players, their seeding position can make or break their chances of reaching the finals.


The seeds aren’t usually too much of a surprise in most tournaments since they’re based on the player’s current world ranking. However, Wimbledon doesn’t quite follow this procedure, preferring instead to use its own unique formula for determining the seeding.

Until 2001, Wimbledon seeding was heavily biased towards those players who performed well on grass. So even those who did badly the rest of the year on different surfaces, would have been granted a higher seeding if they’d played well at Wimbledon or other grass court tournaments in previous years.

The reasons behind the Wimbledon seeding system are attributed to the different skills necessary for grass court play. Grass is a very fast playing surface which generally suits the serve and volley type player. Of course there are always exceptions with baseline players such as Agassi or Borg excelling at Wimbledon.

Wimbledon seeding has caused much controversy over the years, with players unhappy with the perceived unfairness of the system, threatening to boycott the event. Therefore, the new system which came into place for the 2001 Championships, saw the number of seeds doubled from 16 to 32. And every player ranked in the world top 32 would be guaranteed a seeding at Wimbledon.

Although the top 32 seeded men are selected for Wimbledon based on their ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rank, their actual seeding is still subject to the Wimbledon seeding formula. So, depending on the player’s performance over the past two years, their eventual seeding at Wimbledon may differ slightly from their world ranking.

The seeding for the ladies generally follows the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) ranking with the Committee only making changes where it deems necessary for a balanced draw.

Seeding was first introduced at Wimbledon in 1924 whereby up to four players from different nations were placed in the four draw quarters. It wasn’t until 1927 that full seeding was used where the entrants were selected according to their ability. Since 1975, the seeding for all major tournaments has been based on computer rankings.

The reason why players are seeded in tennis tournaments is to try and ensure as far as possible that the best players won’t face each other in the early rounds. The top two seeds are placed at opposite ends of the draw, with the top eight seeds in different eights. This hopefully maximizes their chances of not meeting until the quarter finals and the fans will be more likely to see the high quality tennis matches they’re hoping for. It’s always a major upset if a seed is knocked out early on in a tournament. And seeding obviously works since only two unseeded players, Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic, have ever won Wimbledon.

The seeding formula now used at Wimbledon is a lot fairer to all players as it more accurately reflects each player’s grass court ability along with their results on different court surfaces. Someone who is seeded high at Wimbledon is truly a sign of a great player, having proved themselves of their ability to win on all surfaces. It may be a complicated system, but it’s fair and it works.