Fall in rankings has Federer seeded 17th at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia — A long injury layoff and a fall in the rankings have created a tougher draw for 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer at the Australian Open.

Federer slipped to No. 17 in the rankings this week after Grigor Dimitrov won the Brisbane International and moved up to No. 15.

The Australian Open tends to stick with the rankings when its seeds 32 players in each of the men's and women's 128-player singles draws, meaning the 35year-old Federer gets less protection than usual and could potentially face a top 10 player in the third round.

The seedings were confirmed by Australian Open organizers on Thursday. The draw will be held Friday for the season-opening major, which starts Monday at Melbourne Park.

Federer has won the Australian Open four times, his first in 2004, and also reached the final in 2009, but he hasn't won the title here since 2010.

He spent six months out of action last year while recovering after surgery on his left knee and finished 2016 at No. 16, ending a year in which his record run of 65 Grand Slam appearances ended when he couldn't contest the French Open. He also missed the US Open.

He returned to action at the international mixed teams exhibition at the Hopman Cup in Perth last week.

As expected, No. 1-ranked Andy Murray is the top seed ahead of six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in the men's draw and Angelique Kerber, the reigning Australian and US Open champion, is the top seed in the women's draw ahead of six-time champion

Over a hundred aspiring netters from all over the country are set for action in the 11th Cebuana Lhuillier Age-group Tennis Championships scheduled from January 20 to 23 at the CitiGreen Tennis Resort Cebu in Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City. The Group 2 PHILTA-sanctioned event features different age brackets from the unisex 10under up to 18-under.

Coaches and players are encouraged to register ahead even if the deadline for submission of entries is on January 19 yet.

For more inquiries, one can call Mario Craiz (09209468280/0926-1641513) or Jun Tabura (0922-713 8390). —

Caecent No-ot Magsumbol

Serena Williams, who is seeded No. 2.

Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic is No. 3 in the men's seedings, and US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, 14-time major winner Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych round out the top 10.

Following Kerber and Williams in the list of top 10 women's seeds are Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkoa, Garbine Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Johanna Konta and Carla Suarez Navarro.

(AP)