Murray Wimbledon top seed for first time

Kerber, Halep, Pliskova and Svitolina round out women’s top four

LONDON, June 28, (AFP): Defending champion Andy Murray’s indifferent form of late did not prevent him being named top seed for Wimbledon for the first time on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Scot and world number one — who suffered a shock first round defeat at the hands of journeyman Australian Jordan Thompson at last week’s Queen’s tournament — will not face any of his fellow members of the ‘Big Four’ until the semifinals.

Novak Djokovic, whose form has also taken a turn for the worse, Roger Federer, fresh from winning at Halle, and Rafael Nadal, reinvigorated after triumphing at the French Open, are all seeded in the top four with Murray for the first time at a Grand Slam event since Wimbledon in 2014.

Djokovic — a three-time Wimbledon champion — and seven-time champion Federer both benefit from the Wimbledon organisers’ habit of not sticking blindly to the world rankings. Germany’s Angelique Kerber reacts in her victory against Czech Republic’s Kristyna Pliskova during the AEGON International tennis tournament at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, England, June 28. (AP)

after suffering severe wounds to her left playing hand while fighting off a knife-wielding burglar at her home last December.

Seeds for Wimbledon (July 3rd July 16th) Men 1. Andy Murray (GBR), 2. Novak Djokovic (SRB), 3. Roger Federer (SUI), 4. Rafael Nadal (ESP), 5. Stan Wawrinka (SUI), 6. Milos Raonic (CAN), 7. Marin Cilic (CRO), 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT), 9. Kei Nishikori (JPN), 10. Alexander Zverev (GER)

11. Tomas Berdych (CZE), 12. JoWilfried Tsonga (FRA), 13. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL), 14. Lucas Pouille (FRA), 15. Gael Monfils (FRA), 16. Gilles Muller (LUX), 17. Jack Sock (USA), 18. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP), 19. Feliciano Lopez (ESP), 20. Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

21. Ivo Karlovic (CRO), 22. Richard Gasquet (FRA), 23. John Isner (USA), 24. Sam Querrey (USA), 25. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP), 26, Steve Johnson (USA), 27. Mischa Zverev (GER), 28. Fabio Fognini (ITA), 29. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG), 30. Karen Khachanov (RUS), 31. Fernando Verdasco (ESP), 32. Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) Women 1. Angelique Kerber (GER),

2. Simona Halep (ROM), 3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE), 4. Elina Svitolina (UKR), 5. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), 6. Johanna Konta (GBR), 7. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), 8. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), 9. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), 10. Venus Williams (USA)

11. Petra Kvitova (CZE), 12. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), 13. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT), 14. Garbine Muguruza (ESP), 15. Elena Vesnina (RUS), 16. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS), 17. Madison Keys (USA), 18. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT), 19. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), 20. Daria Gavrilova (AUS)

21. Caroline Garcia (FRA), 22. Barbora Strycova (CZE), 23. Kiki Bertens (NED), 24. Coco Vandeweghe (USA), 25. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP), 26. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO), 27. Ana Konjuh (CRO), 28. Lauren Davis (USA), 29. Daria Kasatkina (RUS), 30. Zhang Shuai (CHN), 31. Roberta Vinci (ITA), 32. Lucie Safarova (CZE)

Britain’s tennis world number 50 Dan Evans testing positive for cocaine has cost him a lucrative sponsorship deal with Italian sportswear firm Ellesse who terminated their contract after just three months.

The 27-year-old — whose natural talent has been marred by off the court controversies throughout his career — is suspended after admitting last Friday he had failed the test at the Barcelona Open in April.

Ellesse, who stepped into the breach in March when Nike opted not to renew their sponsorship deal, issued a statement announcing the end of their association.

It will cost the Englishman — who started the year in fabulous fashion reaching his first ATP Tour final in Sydney and then beating Croatian star Marin Cilic and home hope Bernard Tomic on the way to the last 16 at the Australian Open — according to the media tens of thousands of pounds a year.

“Ellesse announces, with regret, the decision to end its sponsorship of Dan Evans,” read the statement.

“Dan has shown great promise on the court and has been a valued member of the Ellesse team, however we cannot condone the lifestyle choices he has made and are therefore withdrawing his sponsorship.”

Evans is yet to be officially sanctioned by the sport’s governing body International Tennis Federation but remains suspended until they hand down their punishment.