Eurosport - Thu, 19 Jun 16:37:00 2008
British number one Andy Murray has slammed the All-England Club's decision to make him the 12th seed at Wimbledon.
Murray is ranked 11th in the world but has been dropped a place for the grass-court Grand Slam as world number 25 Marcos Baghdatis and number 19 Tomas Berdych have been moved above him, with world number 10 Stanislas Wawrinka also dropping down.
The Scot, 21, believes he is being indirectly punished for the wrist injury which forced him to miss Wimbledon last year.
"I feel like I am one of the top grass-court players in the world, but because I missed Wimbledon I am going to lose out because of it, which I think is a little bit tough," Murray said.
"I personally think it should just be done on the rankings, which is much easier."
Murray will avoid facing top seeds like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the early rounds, but he knows there are still plenty of other dangerous opponents in the draw.
"If you look at the Australian Open, I played against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round, which seemed like a decent draw, and the guy ends up making the final," he said.
"Nowadays there are so many guys who can play well, like Ernests Gulbis, who had a great run at the French Open, so you have just got to try to concentrate on each match.
"You kind of know what is going on around you, but you try not to look too far ahead."
The women's seedings have stuck rigidly to the top 32 in the world rankings as the seeding committee found no special cases for grass court performances.
French Open champion Ana Ivanovic is top seed after taking over first place in the rankings.
The Wimbledon fortnight begins on Monday with the draw being made on Friday.
MEN:
1. Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2. Rafael Nadal (Spain)
3. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
4. Nikolay Davydenko (Russian)
5. David Ferrer (Spain)
6. Andy Roddick (United States)
7. David Nalbandian (Argentina)
8. Richard Gasquet (France)
9. James Blake (United States)
10. Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus)
11. Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
12. Andy Murray (Britain)
13. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)
14. Paul-Henri Mathieu (France)
15. Fernando Gonzalez (Chile)
16. Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic)
17. Mikhail Youzhny (Russia)
18. Ivo Karlovic (Croatia)
19. Nicolas Almagro (Spain)
20. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
21. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain)
22. Fernando Verdasco (Spain)
23. Tommy Robredo (Spain)
24. Jarkko Nieminen (Finland)
25. Dmitry Tursunov (Russia)
26. Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia)
27. Nicolas Kiefer (Germany)
28. Gilles Simon (France)
29. Andreas Seppi (Italy)
30. Gael Monfils (France)
31. Feliciano Lopez (Spain)
32. Michael Llodra (France)
WOMEN:
1. Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)
2. Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)
3. Maria Sharapova (Russian)
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia)
5. Elena Dementieva (Russia)
6. Serena Williams (United States)
7. Venus Williams (United States)
8. Anna Chakvetadze (Russia)
9. Dinara Safina (Russia)
10. Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia)
11. Marion Bartoli (France)
12. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland)
13. Vera Zvonareva (Russia)
14. Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)
15. Agnes Szavay (Hungary)
16. Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
17. Alize Cornet (France)
18. Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic)
19. Maria Kirilenko (Russia)
20. Francesca Schiavone (Italy)
21. Nadia Petrova (Russia)
22. Flavia Pennetta (Italy)
23. Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia)
24. Shahar Peer (Israel)
25. Lindsay Davenport (United States)
26. Sybille Bammer (Austria)
27. Virginie Razzano (France)
28. Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine)
29. Amelie Mauresmo (France)
30. Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia)
31. Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
32. Sania Mirza (India)
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Comment 1 - 20 of 20
Basically I don't know why they changed his ranking. There's no difference between 11 & 12, they (or rather the computer nowadays) basically pull a number out of a hat as to whether no 11 or 12 go in the top or bottom 1/2, so in fact he will be in the same place in the draw. As so many of you have said, it's about time he stopped moaning & concentrated on doing something with his tennis. The best way for him to prove them wrong is to go beyond his seeding - but can he..? I doubt it.
Oh well its moaning time again.Why do our sports people always winge.We had Damon Hill,Nigel Mansel,Coultard,Henman,and now we got Hamilton: who everyone thinks he's the mutts nuts,and Murray , Why don't we give them the trophies then send them home to mommy and let everyone else play for second place,he's like a badger on steroids, Grow up,and shut up, when your good enough you get to be No 1, (I won't hold my breath waiting for that one)
Murray really needs to get a hold of himself. He's very talented, but he always complains that there was something in his way. If he feels he's one of the greats on grass, doesn't he feel that he needs to prove it with some victories?
Another whinging Pom! Why can't Murray just shut up and get on with trying to win. By aping the young MacEnroe does he think he will ultimately be as successful as that brat became? Grow up, little boy.
From Jonniboy on Thursday 19 June 2008. 00.34
How pathetic does that sound: "I FEEL like I am one of the top grass players in the world"! When is this young man going to shut up and concentrate on improving his overall condition, physical strength, and versatility on court. Murray seems to be heading for the bin of wasted talents..."talks big and fails regularly".
what does he want know? maybe there shouln't be any wimbledon at all this year, just give the prize to murray, as everybody is so confident that he will win.
I wouldn't put Jelena as the number 2 seed. she has yet to prove herself to be in that spot. Yes, she's won a couple of italian opens in the last couple of years, but that's it! The reason she is there is merely the fact that she plays twice the amount of tournaments as everyone else. A top player doesnt have to play every tournament under the sun, but she will suffer next year when she has a lot of points to defend! Im waiting on the Federer dominance to be over and hopefully this is the year. Novak is right by the fact that he is vulnerable. You got fresh younger players who are more hungrier than ever to make a name for themselves, unlike the old farts "Roddick", "Blake", "Davydenko", et. al who are just too scared to go out there and play their best to beat Federer. Thank God for Novak and Nadal who aren't scared to play this man. And for Murray, the whiner who has yet to do anything in tennis, he needs to start making a name for himself on court than off court. As far as his being one of the best grass court players in the world. That's laughable,- one quarterfinal appearance and the kid thinks he's GOD. He needs to get over himself fast!
Djokovic and Murray should play doubles together. Would make for an entertaining press conference. I bet Djokovic would spend half an hour explaining how he is by far the best doubles player and proceed to imitate Todd Woodbridge's service motion, and Murray would just sulk in a corner and complain about there being too many players on court in doubles. Seriously, these guys are pathetic...
PS. Has there ever been a more genuinely humble sports star than Rafael Nadal. This guy deserves all the praise he gets, and then some.
Andy continues to be the biggest moaner in World Tennis....Momma's boy needs to grow up and concentrate of playing the great tennis I believe he is capable of
Ken Fadden
Brandon, Suffolk UK
Is a Scotsman British? Or are only those who wear a union jack?
'MOANING MURRAY' that should be his new nickname..... world class at moaning not so good at tennis...... When does Nadal moan? Although on Nadal, he should think about working on both sets of arm muscles. Is it me or does his right arm look out of proportion to the left..... Where as Murray will moan he cannot train hard enough to gain any muscle and therefore cannot compete on an even keel.
Chances are Murray will go out a 'hero' injured in the second round...
He has always got something to moan about that boy, that's why he has never endeared the public to him. He should be happy to be seeded at all on his past performances. He may be a good player but he is yet to consistently prove it.
When does pointing out a fact become 'moaning' or whingeing? I am sure that if any of those who throw stones at Murray was asked what they thought about the seedings - should they have the talent to find themselves in the same position - the answer might have been similar. Anyway, I have read the article twice now, and I still cant't see where he is 'moaning'. Once again we have a news campaign designed to deride one of our best sportsmen.
I am so glad I live on mainland Europe where talent is celebrated!
Why is murray always constantly moaning???
I like the comments about him enjoying playing on centre court, but does he really mean it. I dont think he wants support from english people otherwise he would wear a great britain sweatband instead of just a scottish one.
Murray seeded 12th is very generous considering his performances at the last two grand slams. I really want him to do well cos he is british but his temperament is suspect
and he has a "whinger" tag which he is happy to encourage. Sadly he will not make it beyond the third round, look to Nadal to break the Federer dominance this year
NADAL MAY BE THE CLAY COURT WIZZARD BUT FEDERER WILL CONTINUE TO RULE ON GRASS. BIG UP FEDERER
Jelena and Ana, you are proud of Serbia. Can you imagine? One small country of less than 8 million people has two top seeds in women's draw and the third seed in men's! Just incredible. After all those wars, bombing, hunger, catastrophes, refugees...they now rule!
RAFA will end the FEDERER kingdom.
Venus should have been top seed, with Serena 3rd behind Invanovic, Mauresmo should be seeded in the top 10 & Davenport should be a lot higher!!!
Roddick, Gasquet, Nalbandian & Hewitt should be seeded above Ferrer & Davydenko!!!
So happy Ana and Jelena cannot meet before final :)
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