MELBOURNE, Australia – World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were named the top seeds on Thursday for next week’s Australian Open with organizers aligning with the current rankings.
Djokovic is chasing his sixth title after beating Andy Murray in last year’s final, while Williams, battling a knee injury, is after her seventh Australian crown.
Murray, who has lost in four Australian finals, three of them to Djokovic, is the second seed ahead of 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
Fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who won in Melbourne in 2014, is the fourth seed with Rafael Nadal at five.
French world number nine Richard Gasquet was not among the seedings for the year’s opening Grand Slam because of a back injury.
Romania’s Simona Halep is the second seed in the bottom half of the women’s draw ahead of Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.
Maria Sharapova, the 2008 champion, is fifth seed, while two-time winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is seeded at 14.
World number nine Lucie Safarova is skipping the Australian Open because of health problems linked to a bacterial infection, while Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, ranked at eight, retired from the sport after her win at last year’s US Open.
The 2016 Australian Open runs from January 18-31.
Meanwhile, defending champion Serena Williams insists she is fighting fit in her bid for a seventh Australian Open crown despite an injury scare and lack of match practice.
The world number one has barely played since the US Open in September, when Roberta Vinci shattered her dream of a calendar-year Grand Slam in a heart-breaking semi-final defeat.
Williams attempted a comeback at this month’s Hopman Cup mixed-team tournament in Perth but retired with soreness in her left knee, sparking speculation that at 34, she could be past her peak.
But the American 21-time Grand Slam champion, who also battled knee problems in the latter half of 2015, insists she is “ready to go” at the Melbourne Park tournament starting Monday.
“My body is feeling great now,” she said this week.
“Obviously I had a hiccup but right now it is doing much better. I’ve had a few days of training so it’s looking good.”
She added: “I know what I need to do on and off the court to win big tournaments.”
Melbourne Park has been a happy hunting ground for Williams. She claimed her first Australian Open title way back in 2003, beating elder sister Venus in the final, and reached her sixth last year when she toppled arch-rival Maria Sharapova.
Williams is not the only player struggling ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the season, with injuries taking their toll on many of the leading names.
Despite the new season being barely underway, the women’s top five have all had troubled lead-ups to their first major test of 2016.
World number two Simona Halep (achilles), Garbine Muguruza (foot), Agnieszka Radwanska (leg) and Maria Sharapova (forearm) have all been battling niggling problems that forced them out of warm-up tournaments.
