Reigning champ Serena is top seed at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) – Red-hot world No. 1 Serena Williams has been installed as the top seed at Wimbledon, which will get underway Monday at on the famed grass courts at the venerable All England Club.

Williams is the reigning Wimbledon, French Open and U.S. Open champion, with only this year’s Australian Open championship eluding her grasp at the last four Grand Slam events. The American superstar is a sizzling 74-3 since losing to Virginie Razzano in the opening round at last year’s French Open.

The 31-year-old Williams is a 16-time major singles champion, with five of her wins coming at Wimbledon. She beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in last year’s finale at the All England Club and topped former No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the French Open final two weeks ago.

Williams is followed by former world No. 1, second-seeded Aussie Open champ, and 2012 U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka, the former Wimbledon winner Sharapova, Radwanska, and former French Open runner-up Sara Errani, who’s seeded fifth.

Seeds six-through-10 are former French Open champ and this year’s Aussie runner-up Li Na, Angelique Kerber, 2011 Wimbledon titlist Petra Kvitova, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, and Maria Kirilenko.

Williams, her fellow career Grand Slam winner Sharapova, and Kvitova are the only former champions in this year’s Wimbledon field, as five-time champ Venus Williams pulled out on Tuesday because of a back injury.

The 2013 Wimbledon draw will be held on Friday.

Categorized in: Tennis