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SERENA 25Th Seed, 1 Spot Below Sharapova

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SERENA 25Th Seed, 1 Spot Below Sharapova

Post by Grossefavourite » Jun Wed 27, 2018 8:18 am

Serena Williams seeded No. 25 for Wimbledon

Serena Williams was seeded No. 25 for her return to Wimbledon after having a baby, a decision by the All England Club announced Wednesday that elevates the tournament's seven-time champion above her ranking of 183rd.

Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam titles during her career, was unseeded at the French Open. While WTA rules allow women who miss time because of a pregnancy to enter events based on their pre-absence ranking, there is no guarantee of a seeding, a policy which has been the subject of much debate in recent months because of Williams' status.

The 36-year-old American gave birth to a daughter last September and was off the tour for more than a year.
In an interview with "Good Morning America," tennis superstar Serena Williams said she hopes seeding can be changed so that players won't be penalized for having children during their career.


For Wimbledon, seedings generally had followed the WTA world rankings, which protects players who have been out due to injury but not those absent due to pregnancy. However, the All England Club can make a change if deemed "necessary to produce a balanced draw."

By doing so, Williams has been afforded protection from having to face any other seeded player in either of the first two rounds. She missed Wimbledon in 2017, but won the title the last two times she was in the field, in 2015 and 2016

The US Open said earlier this month that it would update its seeding policy to take into account a player returning from pregnancy.

Putting Williams at No. 25 now means that she could face someone seeded No. 1 through No. 8 in the third round. The draw for Wimbledon is Friday; play begins Monday.

Simona Halep is No. 1 in the women's draw, with defending champion Garbine Muguruza at No. 3 behind Caroline Wozniacki. Venus Williams is No. 9, Australia's Ashleigh Barty is No. 17, home favourite Jo Konta is No. 22 and Maria Sharapova is seeded 24th, one place ahead of Serena Williams.

Defending champion Roger Federer, who is seeking an eighth singles title at Wimbledon, leads the men's draw, ahead of second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who is ranked No. 1 in the world. They are followed by Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev and Juan Martin del Potro.


Novak Djokovic is No. 12, Britain's Kyle Edmund is seeded No. 22 and French Open surprise Marco Cecchinato is No. 31.

Two-time champion Andy Murray, who was world No. 1 ahead of the 2017 Championships, remains unseeded as he continues his comeback from a hip injury.

Former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova, who is ranked No. 32 in the WTA rankings, is the player most disadvantaged by the decision to seed Serena Williams. The Slovakian would have taken the last seeded spot but instead goes into the open draw.

"I don't think it's the right thing to do," Cibulkova, a two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist, told the BBC ahead of the announcement. "I think it's just not fair."

Unless a seed withdraws before the start of the tournament, Cibulkova could potentially face Halep or even Williams in the first round. Petra Kvitova, the two-time champ who is seeded No. 8, pulled out of her third-round match at Eastbourne on Wednesday with a hamstring problem, putting her status for Wimbledon in doubt.

"I think it's now right that WTA offers a protected ranking. I think that's good," Cibulkova said at the Eastbourne championships. "But I think this is a little bit of a different story. Why should I not be seeded if I have the right to be?

"I think if it was a different player, not her, I think she would not be seeded. It's just because she won it many times and she's Serena Williams. So I think that's why."
Last edited by Grossefavourite on Jun Wed 27, 2018 2:57 pm, edited 7 times in total.

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Re:SERENA 25Th Seed

Post by Ace2Ace » Jun Wed 27, 2018 9:15 am

WTA been dead for a decade if that’s the case because it’s been done before.

And Serena using her protected ranking means she didn’t earn the points to be awarded a main draw entry but took the place of someone who did yet no one cares about those.

Keep your fake tears girl no one cares
Thank you.
They had no choice but to seed her given that they seeded Sharapova in 2009 even though she was out of the top 32 like Serena is right now and with a weaker last few Wimbledon outings than Serena right now.
There it is. Pova fans can relax. They didn't complain when Pova got seeded.
bajantoo wrote:Did you ask the same question when Sharapova also pushed out the No. 32 player when she was seeded by the Committee?
Thank you. She will not answer this question.
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Post by Ace2Ace » Jun Wed 27, 2018 9:23 am

So who are Serenas' potential opponents? Who is the famous computer going to pick in R1 and R2?
For the rest we have an idea:

R3: [1-8] vs [25-32] and [9-16] vs [17-24]
R4: [1-4] vs [13-16] and [5-8] vs [9-12]
QF: [1-4] vs [5-8]
SF: [1-2] vs [3-4]
F: 1 vs 2

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Post by Grossefavourite » Jun Wed 27, 2018 9:24 am

Dominika.

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Post by Grossefavourite » Jun Wed 27, 2018 10:20 am

So anyone who plays her will want to beat her to make a statement that she's not worthy of he seeding .

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Post by Grossefavourite » Jun Wed 27, 2018 2:57 pm

I knew it. They would not seed her higher than Sharapova.

Sharapova is seeded 24th. What are the odds?

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Post by Grossefavourite » Jun Thu 28, 2018 7:28 pm

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, who was dropped from a seeding position when Serena Williams was seeded at No. 25 for Wimbledon, calls it "unfair" but says Williams is being recognized for her career record.

While current WTA rules give players a protected ranking when returning to tour from injury or pregnancy, they do not allow it to be used for seeding at events.

Wimbledon, as a Grand Slam, can do its own seedings. The event promoted Williams, who has won the tournament several times and is returning to tour following the birth of her first child in 2017, to No. 25 in the seedings. Cibulkova, who is No. 32, will now not be seeded.

"I have the right and I should be seeded," Cibulkova told journalists at Eastbourne, in additional statements following her press conference. "My opinion about it is that I don’t think it’s fair and I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.

"It’s a really different thing if they change the seeding. Why should I not be seeded when I have the right to be?"

Cibulkova, who has previously reached the finals at Melbourne and the semifinal at Wimbledon, had also told press that she agreed with players getting a protected ranking when they return to tour, but not a seeding.

“For me, it would be great if [Serena] is not seeded, but I cannot do anything about that. So that's their decision,” Cibulkova said at Eastbourne. “They have the right to do it. So what I can do?

"She won it so many times, so if I would be maybe [ranked] 31 I would say, yeah, she has the right to be seeded. It's hard to say anything. I don't want to just be so uptight with the seeding.”

At the French Open, which has a policy of using the rankings for seeding, Williams was not among the Top 32 seeds. She reached the fourth round before withdrawing with injury. Other players returning from childbirth, like Victoria Azarenka, have not received special seedings while returning.

Cibulkova added that Williams was receiving seeding because of her record.

“I think if it will be a different player, not her, I think she would not be seeded," she said. "It's just because she won it many times and she's Serena Williams. So I think that's why.”

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Post by Graveller » Jun Fri 29, 2018 2:58 am

It is a bit silly to seed her 25... whether you are 25 or 32 seeded, you end up in the same category of being drawn against a top8 in R4.... So they simply coudl have given her Seed#32, but that would have looked even more disrespectful towards Cibulkova...

Anyway, this puts any (future) discussion on how racist Wimbledon is by not giving her a specific court or specific time-slot (afternoon, evening) to rest: Serena got an unprecedented preferential treatment here ; not even Azarenka, got that treatment last year when returning after giving birth.
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Re:SERENA 25Th Seed, 1 Spot Below Sharapova

Post by sekasi » Jun Fri 29, 2018 8:30 am

Graveller wrote: Anyway, this puts any (future) discussion on how racist Wimbledon is by not giving her a specific court or specific time-slot (afternoon, evening) to rest: Serena got an unprecedented preferential treatment here ; not even Azarenka, got that treatment last year when returning after giving birth.
:lol: :lol:

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Post by Grossefavourite » Jun Fri 29, 2018 8:36 am

<font color=brown>@ <b>Graveller</b>:</font>
 
There's no comparison between the GOAT Serena and Azarenka except for pregnancy. The seeding committee considered pregnancy as one factor in the seeding decisions. Had Azarenka or Maria been the GOAT, World No. 1 and 7-time and Defending Champion at the time of pregnancy, it would've been a no-brainer to seed her No. 1 as Halep has suggested. So, no, they don't get a pass, and as you've noticed, they somehow managed to seed her one spot behind Maria.

And let's not forget the recent past in which they kicked Serena and Venus off Center Court to showcase the so-called 'Battle of the Beauties' between, if memory serves, Wozniacki and Cirstea.

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