Ashleigh Barty of Australia poses with the WTA World number 1 trophy during day 1 of the Nature Valley International at Devonshire Park on June 24, 2019 in Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Picture: Paul Harding/Getty Images for LTAWimbledon is the only one of the four annual grand slams not to follow world rankings and Nadal, fresh off winning his 12th French Open crown, believes the controversial system is disrespectful.
“Whether I’m two or three , I’ll have to play my best. I will accept being three if they see it that way and I will fight to try and win my matches,” said the Spanish great as he chases a third title on the famous London lawns. “The thing that does not seem right to me about this story is that it is only Wimbledon that does it, only one tournament.
“It has not only happened to me, it has happened to other players. They do not respect the status that some players have earned throughout the season.” South African Kevin Anderson, runner-up to Djokovic last year after eliminating Federer in the quarter-finals, has been seeded fourth in 2019 despite being ranked eighth.
Ashleigh Barty of Australia poses with the WTA World number 1 trophy. Picture: Paul Harding/Getty Images for LTAThat means demotions for world No.5 Dominic Thiem, who was runner-up to Nadal at Roland Garros this month, as well as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Kei Nishikori, who have also all been seeded one spot below their ranking. Alex de Minaur, seeded 25th, is the only Australian men’s seed this year. Nick Kyrgios is unseeded for the first time since 2014 having fallen to No.
Women’s titleholder Angelique Kerber is the fifth seed, with seven-times Wimbledon champion Serena Williams seeded 11th.1.Ashleigh Barty 2.Naomi Osaka 3.Karolina Pliskova 4.Kiki Bertens 5.Angelique Kerber 6.Petra Kvitova 7.Simona Halep 8.Elina Svitolina .1.Novak Djokovic 2. Roger Federer 3.Rafael Nadal 4.Kevin Anderson 5.Dominic Thiem 6.Alexander Zverev 7.Stefanos Tsitsipas 8.Kei Nishikori .