# Tennis Grand Slam seeding question **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-grand-slam-seeding-question/585651 "2011-06-16T02:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-grand-slam-seeding-question/585651/1 "2011-06-16T02:24:02Z")
When seeding the singles bracket, do they do a straightforward seeding? (1 v 128 2 v. 127 etc.) If so, a SI Swimsuit Edition grudge match _could_ happen in the semis. (Andy Roddick (Brooklyn Decker’s hubby (10) v. Fernando Verdasco (Jarah Mariano’s current betterhalf) (26)). DUH! just realized ranking seldom=seeding! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-grand-slam-seeding-question/585651/2 "2011-06-16T02:31:33Z")
No, it’s not done that way. A lot of the draw is random, with some structure - for example, the number one and number two players will always be on opposite sides so they can’t play until the finals. The number three and number four players will also be on opposite sides of the draw and they will be placed so they can’t meet the highest-seeded player on their side until the semifinals - but the number three seed could be on the same side of the draw as the number one seed or the number two seed. It pretty much works like that. The Australian, French, and U.S. Opens seed players according to their 52-week world ranking about two weeks before the start of the tournament, although you’re right that with injuries and things, there will often be a withdrawal or two and the rankings won’t match up perfectly with the seeds. Wimbledon has a different system that puts more weight on the players’ grass court results over the last two seasons, so players who do well on grass are sometimes seeded higher than their current ranking and guys who do poorly on grass might be seeded lower. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-grand-slam-seeding-question/585651/3 "2011-06-16T04:09:05Z")
I think **Marley** once explained to me that there is no competitive advantage between: the seedings are not rigid. 1. a #1 seed and a #2 seed. 2. a #3 seed and a #4 seed (#3 could face either #1 or #2 seed in the semis) 3. Seeds #5-8 (#5 could play #1 and #8 could play #4 in the Qtrs) 4. Seeds #9-16 (#9 could play #1 and #8 could play #16 in the Round of 16) 5. Seeds #17-32 (similar thought pattern) It seems odd to me that #1 seed (Nadal) could be seeded to play #17, #9, #5, #3 while #2 seed (Novak) could face #32, #16, #8, and #4 in the same tournament. IMO, Rafa has earned the right to have a competitive advantage over Novak and does not get one. Probably not a really big deal until Rafa possibly plays Federer in Semis. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-grand-slam-seeding-question/585651/4 "2011-06-16T04:25:31Z")
Right. [Wikipedia does explain it pretty well.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-elimination_tournament#Seeding) After the top two seeds, it’s partly random: the players are chosen by luck of the draw, but they’re assigned to specific slots. Seed three and seed four won’t be on the same spot; seeds five through eight will be assigned in such a way that they can’t meet the top four before the quarterfinals, but randomness determines whether #5 will play #1, 2, 3, or 4. It gets more random as you move down through unseeded players and the wild cards and lucky losers. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-grand-slam-seeding-question/585651/5 "2011-06-17T23:35:50Z")
Looks like Verdasco v. Roddick wouldn’t happen until the semis.