# Do seeded tennis players require water and fertilizer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-seeded-tennis-players-require-water-and-fertilizer/36558>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 11, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-seeded-tennis-players-require-water-and-fertilizer/36558 "2000-10-11T16:47:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-seeded-tennis-players-require-water-and-fertilizer/36558/1 "2000-10-11T16:47:33Z")

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I’m just curious about the term “seeded” when referring to  
athletes’ rankings. I know what it means but using the word seed just doesn’t seem to make sense in this context. Was it substitution for the word “seated”, which took root (:D)?

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**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-seeded-tennis-players-require-water-and-fertilizer/36558/2 "2000-10-11T16:55:23Z")

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Actually, it does make sense in the tennis context, since one of the definitions of seeded refers to a competitor who has been _seeded_ in a tournament. It is just coincidence that seeded and seated sound the same.