Serena awarded No. 25 seed at Wimbledon

Serena Williams will be seeded 25th when Wimbledon opens play on Sunday, a far cry from her world ranking of 183rd.

Unlike the French Open, the All England Club strayed from the rankings for Williams, who returned to the WTA Tour this year after giving birth to her first child in September.

Williams will be seeking her eighth Wimbledon title.

Simona Halep, the world No. 1, is the tournament’s top seed, followed by Caroline Wozniacki at No. 2 and defending champion Garbine Muguruza at No. 3.

Opponents in the bracket will be known when the field is drawn Friday.

On the men’s side, Roger Federer is the top seed as he also pursues an eighth title. Rafael Nadal, who took over the No. 1 ranking this week, is seeded second, followed by Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev and Juan Martin del Potro.

After the uproar over Williams not being seeded at the French Open, the U.S. Open announced it will also update its seeding policy to take into account a player returning from a pregnancy, according to United States Tennis Association president Katrina Adams.

“It’s the right thing to do for these mothers that are coming back,” Adams told the New York Times in a telephone interview last week.

Williams, who was ranked No. 1 in the world when she ceased playing after winning the 2017 Australian Open, is now ranked No. 183. She gave birth to her daughter Alexis in September and returned to play in March at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

She played well at the French Open before being forced to withdraw due to a pectoral injury.

Grand Slam events generally award seeds based on rankings, which aren’t protected for injuries or pregnancy in the WTA.

–Field Level Media