Wimbledon Seeds: The Gentlemen

It sounds odd, I know, but Wimbledon's just a little different from the other Slams – that's what they call the men, although the way they compete sometimes, gentlemen doesn't quite seem like the right term. Anyway, here are the Top 32 men, as decided by Wimbledon's seeding formula:

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI)
2. Rafael NADAL (ESP)
3. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)
4. Andy MURRAY (GBR)
5. Andy RODDICK (USA)
6. Robin SODERLING (SWE)
7. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS)
8. Fernando VERDASCO (ESP)
9. David FERRER (ESP)
10. Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (FRA)
11. Marin CILIC (CRO)
12. Tomas BERDYCH (CZE)
13. Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS)
14. Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP)
15. Lleyton HEWITT (AUS)
16. Jurgen MELZER (AUT)
17. Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO)
18. Sam QUERREY (USA)
19. Nicolas ALMAGRO (ESP)
20. Stanislas WAWRINKA (SUI)
21. Gael MONFILS (FRA)
22. Radek STEPANEK (CZE)
23. Feliciano LOPEZ (ESP)
24. John ISNER (USA)
25. Ivo KARLOVIC (CRO)
26. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)
27. Thomaz BELLUCCI (BRA)
28. Gilles SIMON (FRA)
29. Ernests GULBIS (LAT)
30. Albert MONTANES (ESP)
31. Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
32. Tommy ROBREDO (ESP)

No, that's not a mistake – missing Wimbledon last year probably cost Rafael Nadal the No. 1 seed this year. In practice, there's really no difference, though. He'll still get drawn against Murray or Djokovic in the semis, a 5-8 player in the quarters, 13-16 in the Round of 16 and 25-32 in the third round. Mainly, it's an issue of bragging rights, and Federer gets them for at least one more Slam this year.
That top four is getting pretty familiar, isn't it? No doubt, we all thought, less than a year ago, that Juan Martin del Potro would be crashing the party, but his wrist has had something to say about that. So we continue on with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray at the top. It's certainly easy enough to imagine these four in the semis, but there are a lot of dangerous guys who could do their share of damage.
Starting with the guy at No. 5, last year's runner-up, Andy Roddick. Roddick was perilously close to winning last year but came up just short – 16-14 in the fifth. At No. 6, we have the now-two-time Roland Garros runner-up, Robin Soderling, who almost took Nadal out on grass in 2007. With his big game, I expect better from him on the faster surfaces. We'll see what he can do here.
Beyond that group, we have a mixed bag of players' results. No. 10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga seems to have settled in as a Round of 16, quarterfinal-level player, which is too bad. He's got the talent to go farther, and he's shown it. The three guys behind him, Cilic, Berdych and Youzhny all have the potential to knock off some of the top guys ... or Berdych or Youzhny could flame out in the first round. Former champion Lleyton Hewitt caused a stir when he beat Federer in Halle last week, but it's hard to imagine him playing the final weekend. Jurgen Melzer is in completely new territory as the No. 16 seed. We'll see how he handles the expectations.
Querrey could out-perform his seeding on the grass. Monfils absolutely should. He's another guy who's too talented to be where he is, although Roland Garros hurt his ranking in a big way. Stepanek and Lopez have had some good results on grass, and Isner and Karlovic are capable of runs due to their serves alone. Baghdatis and Gulbis are both players whose talent doesn't match their results. With pressure off, could one of them make a run? And what about Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil? I was impressed that he lived up to expectations in Paris. Now, he has to show that he can match those results on other surfaces.
Back with more later.