Defending men's champion Pete Sampras and women's number one Martina Hingis were named the top seeds for Wimbledon today.
Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, fourth in the ATP Tour rankings, has been seeded eighth at the world's most prestigious tournament because of his lack of experience on grass.
Pat Rafter of Australia, a losing finalist last year to Sampras, is seeded third although he is 10th in the 12-month rankings on which tournament seedings are normally based.
Leading claycourt players had threatened to boycott Wimbledon over its seedings policy. In response, organisers said they would double the number of seeds to 32 but reserved the right to rank seeds according to their proficiency on grass.
Sampras, who has won Wimbledon seven times, is currently fifth in the 12-month rankings.
The top seven women's seeds follow the latest WTA rankings - Hingis, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Serena Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters.
Monica Seles, eighth in the rankings, pulled out injured earlier today. The two-week championships begin next Monday.