It comes as little surprise… But Rafael Nadal has been listed as the top seed at the Australian Open, which gets underway on Monday at Melbourne Park.
The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, recently extended his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after clinching the title at the Qatar Open.
Djokovic, the defending champion, is the No. 2-seeded man, followed by David Ferrer, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at sixth.
The other Latino seeds include Spain’s Nicolas Almagro at No. 13, Spain’s Tommy Robredo at No. 18, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and No. 27 and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at No. 32.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams has been made the top seeds at the Australian Open.
Defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No. 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.
The only Latina to earn at ranking at this year’s Australian Open is Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at No. 16.
The 32 seeds were only altered twice from the rankings, both because of injuries. No. 29-ranked Jurgen Melzer is not playing due to a left shoulder injury and Maria Kirilenko, who would have been seeded 18th, has a left knee injury.