India 's top ranking woman tennis player Sania Mirza has been seeded 31st at the year's grand slam opener Australian Open, which is starting from January 14 on the new Plexicushion courts in Melbourne.
The 21-year-old Hyderabadi got the billing according to her current WTA rankings. It will also help her to avoid formidable opponents in the early stages of the tournament.
A total of 128 players including men's and women's have now been finalised for the singles draws (except qualifiers) for the start of play on Monday. The tournament for the first time will be held on blue coloured Plexicushion courts, instead of green Rebound Ace.
World number one Justin Henin is the top seed followed by Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, while defending champion Serena Williams has been seeded seventh and sister Venus Williams eighth in the first Grand Slam of the year.
Serbian beauty Anna Ivanovic has been seeded fourth and former world number one Maria Sharapova of Russia fifth.
In the men's section, defending champion Roger Federer gets the top billing, while Spaniard world No 2 Rafael Nadal is seeded second, followed by Serbian Novak Djokovic. Lleyton Hewitt is the only Australian to feature in the seedings.
Australia's top player, who is seeded 19th, will take on Belgian Steve Darcis in the opening round.
A potential third round clash is on the cards with No.15 and 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis, provided the Cypriot can get past 2002 champ Thomas Johansson and a likely second round clash with mysterious 2005 winner Marat Safin.
In the lower half, sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick is expected to meet No.2 Rafael Nadal in the quarters, with No.8 Frenchman Richard Gasquet and Russian fourth-seed Nikolay Davydenko likely to face off in the other quarterfinal clash.
On the women's side, some great matches await in the later rounds if all seeds progress. Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Nicole Vaidisova and the recently returned Lindsay Davenport are all packed into the stronger top half of the draw.
|
|
Read More: Mau
Comments:
