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Serena could get Wimbledon seeding, despite French snub

May 22, 2018
Serena Williams with Wimbledon Trophy
Serena Williams with Wimbledon Trophy

LONDON — Serena Williams could still be seeded at this year’s Wimbledon championships despite being snubbed by French Open organizers, the All England Club said Tuesday.

The American is expected to play at Roland Garros next week, where she has won the title three times, but without being seeded she could conceivably meet champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) confirmed Tuesday that its seedings would be based on the latest WTA rankings.

Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, is ranked a lowly 453rd after returning to action this year following the birth of her daughter last September.

She has not played a tournament since Miami in March and pulled out of the claycourt events in Madrid and Rome.

While the French Open sticks rigidly to rankings, Wimbledon’s tennis sub-committee allows itself some wiggle room.

The men’s seedings is usually based on ATP rankings in conjunction with a formula based on grasscourt results over the previous two years. In contrast, the women’s seedings usually follow the WTA rankings list but can be tweaked by the All England Club in special circumstances.

“The seeding order follows the WTA ranking list, except where in the opinion of the committee, a change is necessary to produce a balanced draw,” is the All England Club’s official line on its website.

Williams has already benefited from this rule in the past as in 2011 she was ranked 25th before the start of Wimbledon but seeded seventh for the championships.

The Wimbledon seedings committee will meet to discuss the order of the 32 seeds on June 26.

The tournament begins on July 2.

Williams has won Wimbledon seven times but missed last year’s tournament while she was on maternity leave.

Despite her lowly ranking she will be able to compete at Roland Garros under the WTA’s protected ranking rule, which allows athletes returning from long absences to gain entry into tournaments using the ranking they had when they stopped playing.

Del Potro waits

Juan Martin del Potro is waiting anxiously to see if a groin strain will force him out of the French Open, with the Argentine hoping the injury does not derail what has been one of his best starts to a season in years.

Del Potro, whose early season form has lifted him to No. 6 in the world, retired during his third round match at last week’s Italian Open after picking up the injury.

The setback, just days before the start of the May 27-June 10 French Open, was particularly upsetting as Del Potro had spent the early part of the year developing a new routine to help him overcome the injuries that have beset his career.

Del Potro put together a team in the close season that includes a trainer, doctor, psychologist and kinesiologist who studies muscle movement.

With the support the team of specialists who travel with him on the road, Del Potro reached three finals in 2018, winning two of them. The back-to-back victories in Acapulco and California included a win over Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Roger Federer in Indian Wells.

The expanded team “has not only made a difference to my tennis but also in helping rid me of non-tennis problems so I can focus on getting out on the court and winning,” the 29-year-old told reporters in Buenos Aires earlier this month.

The new approach also lifted him to his highest ranking since 2010.

His 2018 form proved he was reaping the benefits of the new regime, while off court the psychologist helped him to “resolve questions I didn’t know how to handle,” he said.

One member of his team said Del Potro was giving too much respect to fellow players, particularly his friend Federer, and they gave him tips to become more aggressive on court.

The new-found belief helped him to edge out the Swiss in a tight third-set tiebreak in the Indian Wells final and he now believes he can at long last win a second Grand Slam title. — Reuters


May 22, 2018
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