Wimbledon: Federer, Mauresmo top seeds
Wimbledon: Federer, Mauresmo top seeds
In determining the seedings released on Wednesday, Wimbledon took past performances on grass into account.

Wimbledon: Three-time defending champion Roger Federer is seeded No 1 for Wimbledon, and the three highest-seeded women will be seeking their first title at tennis' grandest event when it begins on Monday.

Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo, US Open winner Kim Clijsters and French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne are seeded 1-2-3 on the women's side.

Among the trio, only Henine-Hardene has reached the Wimbledon final - she was runner-up in 2001.

Maria Sharapova, who won the 2004 title at age 17, is seeded fourth.

Defending champion Venus Williams is seeded seventh, five spots higher than her No 12 ranking.

In determining the seedings released on Wednesday, Wimbledon took past performances on grass into account.

But the tournament declined to penalize clay-court king Rafael Nadal, who was awarded a seeding to match his No 2 ranking even though his career record at Wimbledon is a modest 3-2.

Last week, Nadal pulled out of his Queen's Club quarter-final against eventual winner Lleyton Hewitt with a sore shoulder.

Nadal, the French Open champion, was followed in the seedings by Andy Roddick, ranked fifth but seeded third after finishing runner-up to Federer the past two years.

Also benefiting from the surfaces adjustments were Hewitt (seeded sixth, ranked ninth), Mario Ancic (seventh/12th), Thomas Johansson (12th/21st) and Sebastian Grosjean (15/26).

Among those penalized by those adjustments for grass was Andre Agassi, who won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 1992, but missed the tournament the past two years with chronic back trouble.

He is ranked 20th but seeded 26th.

David Nalbandian is seeded fourth, followed by Ivan Ljubicic, Hewitt, Ancic, James Blake, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez.

The top 24 men are entered.

On the women's side, Nadia Petrova is seeded fifth, followed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Williams, Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder and Anastasia Myskina.

Missing from the women's draw will be Lindsay Davenport, the champion in 1999 and the runner-up to Williams last year.

Ranked sixth, Davenport is sidelined by a back injury.

Also out are No 9 Mary Pierce (foot tendinitis) and 2002-03 champion Serena Williams, whose ranking has fallen to 104th during her long layoff resulting from a knee injury.

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