Serena seeded 25 at Wimbledon

Serena Williams was seeded No. 25 for her return to Wimbledon after having a baby, a decision by the All England Club announced Wednesday that elevates the tournament's seven-time champion well above her ranking of 183rd.

The 36-year-old American gave birth to a daughter last September and was off the tour for more than a year.

By moving Williams into the top 32, the All England Club afforded her “protection” from facing any other seeded player in either of the first two rounds — and, of course, allowed the other seeds to avoid facing her that early, too.

Wimbledon and other Grand Slam tournaments have leeway to stray from strictly following the WTA and ATP rankings when determining seedings. That's why, for example, eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer's success on grass courts was taken into account when the All England Club bumped him up a spot to No. 1 on Wednesday, while topranked Rafael Nadal is seeded No. 2.

Aside from the All England Club's placing of Williams, the women's seedings align with the rankings. So French Open champion Simona Halep is No. 1, Australian Open Caroline Wozniacki is No. 2, reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza is No. 3, and U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens is No. 4. In other news:

• Andy Murray lost 6-4, 6-4 to second-seeded Kyle Edmund in an all-British clash in the second round of the Eastbourne (England) International as Murray continued his comeback from a hip injury.

Asked if he would know by the time of the draw on Friday whether he would play at Wimbledon, Murray replied: “Yeah, probably. … I don't really anticipate any issues.”

In women’s play at Eastbourne, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki reached the quarter finals by beating Johanna Konta 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.