By IANS
New Delhi : Top Indian woman tennis player Sania Mirza has been seeded 31st at the Australian Open to be played on the new Plexicushion courts in Melbourne from Jan. 14.
The seeding status, which has been given according to the players’ position in the WTA rankings, would enable the 21-year-old Hyderabadi to avoid formidable opponents in the initial phases of the tournament, which for the first time will be held on blue coloured Plexicushion courts, instead of green Rebound Ace.
World number one Justin Henin is the top seed followed by Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, while defending champion Serena Williams has been seeded seventh and sister Venus Williams eighth in the first Grand Slam of the year.
Serbian beauty Anna Ivanovic has been seeded fourth and former world number one Maria Sharapova of Russia fifth.
In the men’s section, defending champion Roger Federer is the top seed, while Spain’s world No 2 Rafael Nadal is seeded second, followed by Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The only Australian to feature in the seedings is Lleyton Hewitt at 19.
The top 32 seedings:
Men: 1. Roger Federer (SUI), 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP), 3. Novak Djokovic (SRB),
4. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS), 5. David Ferrer (ESP), 6. Andy Roddick (USA),
7. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI), 8. Richard Gasquet (FRA), 9. Andy Murray (GBR),
10. David Nalbandian (ARG), 11. Tommy Robredo (ESP), 12. James Blake (USA),
13. Tomas Berdych (CZE), 14. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS), 15. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP), 16. Carlos Moya (ESP), 17. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO), 18. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG), 19. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS), 20. Ivo Karlovic (CRO), 21. Juan Monaco (ARG), 22. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP), 23. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA), 24. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN), 25. Fernando Verdasco (ESP), 26. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI), 27. Nicolas Almagro (ESP), 28. Gilles Simon (FRA), 29. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER), 30. Radek Stepanek (CZE), 31. Igor Andreev (RUS), 32. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS).
Women: 1. Justine Henin (BEL), 2. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), 3. Jelena Jankovic (SRB), 4. Ana Ivanovic (SRB), 5. Maria Sharapova (RUS), 6. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS), 7. Serena Williams (USA), 8. Venus Williams (USA), 9. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK), 10. Marion Bartoli (FRA), 11. Elena Dementieva (RUS), 12. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE), 13. Tatiana Golovin (FRA), 14. Nadia Petrova (RUS), 15. Patty Schnyder (SUI), 16. Dinara Safina (RUS), 17. Shahar Peer (ISR), 18. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA), 19. Sybille Bammer (AUT), 20. Agnes Szavay (HUN), 21. Alona Bondarenko (UKR), 22. Lucie Safarova (CZE), 23. Vera Zvonareva (RUS), 24. Na Li (CHN), 25. Francesca Schiavone (ITA), 26. Victoria Azarenka (BLR), 27. Maria Kirilenko (RUS), 28. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO), 29. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), 30. Virginie Razzano (FRA), 31. Sania Mirza (IND), 32. Julia Vakulenko (UKR).