June 17, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1424

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LONDON, June 16: Last year’s champion Lleyton Hewitt has been made top seed for next week’s Wimbledon championships, ahead of world number one Andre Agassi.

Unlike every other tournament in the world, Wimbledon refuses to stick to the ATP’s world rankings, instead using a combination of rankings and grasscourt form over recent years when determining men’s seeds.

Britain’s Tim Henman also profited from this unique system. Four times a semifinalist at the grasscourt grand slam, he was seeded 10th by the organisers on Monday despite being ranked just 29th in the world.

The decision to seed Australian world number two Hewitt top and to elevate Henman some 19 places is sure to stoke the debate about Wimbledon’s controversial seeding methods.

Hewitt himself, however, is not remotely bothered.

However, the tournament does stick to the women’s world rankings for their seeds.

World number one and defending champion Serena Williams was seeded top in that draw, followed by Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne with Serena’s elder sister Venus seeded fourth.

Agassi took over from Hewitt at the top of the rankings this week after reaching the semi-finals of the Stella Artois Championships at Queen’s Club, becoming the oldest world number one since rankings began in 1973.

The 33-year-old American was champion here in 1992 and despite falling in the second round last year has had an excellent record at Wimbledon in recent years.

Seedings:

Men’s singles: 1. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), 2. Andre Agassi (US), 3. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain), 4. Roger Federer (Switzerland), 5. Andy Roddick (US), 6. David Nalbandian (Argentina), 7. Guillermo Coria (Argentina), 8. Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands), 9. Rainer Schuettler (Germany), 10. Tim Henman (Britain), 11. Jiri Novak (Czech Republic), 12. Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand), 13. Sebastien Grosjean (France), 14. Xavier Malisse (Belgium), 15. Arnaud Clement (France), 16. Mikhail Youzhny (Russia), 17. Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil), 18. Marat Safin (Russia), 19. Fernando Gonzalez (Chile), 20. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia), 21. Martin Verkerk (Netherlands), 22. Felix Mantilla (Spain), 23. Agustin Calleri (Argentina), 24. Albert Costa (Spain), 25. Tommy Robredo (Spain), 26. James Blake (US), 27. Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco), 28. Wayne Ferreira (South Africa), 29. Gaston Gaudio (Argentina), 30. Jarkko Nieminen (Finland), 31. Vincent Spadea (US), 32. Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina).

Women’s singles: 1. Serena Williams (US), 2. Kim Clijsters (Belgium), 3. Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium), 4. Venus Williams (US), 5. Lindsay Davenport (US), 6. Amelie Mauresmo (France), 7. Chanda Rubin (US), 8. Jennifer Capriati (US), 9. Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia), 10. Anastasia Myskina (Russia), 11. Jelena Dokic (Yugoslavia), 12. Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria), 13. Ai Sugiyama (Japan), 14. Eleni Daniilidou (Greece), 15. Elena Dementieva (Russia), 16. Vera Zvonareva (Russia), 17. Amanda Coetzer (South Africa), 18. Conchita Martinez (Spain), 19. Meghann Shaughnessy (US), 20. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland), 21. Elena Bovina (Russia), 22. Nathalie Dechy (France), 23. Lisa Raymond (US), 24. Magui Serna (Spain), 25. Anna Pistolesi (Israel), 26. Alexandra Stevenson (US), 27. Silvia Farina Elia (Italy), 28. Laura Granville (US), 29. Nadia Petrova (Russia), 30. Denisa Chladkova (Czech Republic), 31. Elena Likhovtseva (Russia), 32. Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand).—Reuters