Andy Murray has been handed 12th seed for Wimbledon 2008 this is one position lower than his 11th place in the current world rankings. Most tournaments seed players exactly on their world ranking the week before the tournament begins only altering these for certain extreme circumstances like long term injury, defending champions.

Wimbledon historically have used much more than world ranking to determine the seedings, they include the previous 24 months grass court results as an additional factor and this year has meant that Wimbledon has handed out some generous seedings to those players with previous good grass court performances and some serious penalties to those with poorer results on grass. The exact way the seeding are determined is as follows,

The seeds are the top 32 players on the ATP Entry System Position (ESP), BUT then rearranged on a surface-based system. A seeding Committee is not required for the Gentlemen’s Singles since the seeding order is determined using an objective and transparent system to reflect more accurately an individual player’s grass court achievements: The formula is:

• Take ESP points at 16 June 2008
• Add 100% points earned for all grass court tournament in the past 12 months
• Add 75% points earned for best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that.

With 3 players in the top 32 of the world rankings already withdrawn from Wimbledon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13th),  Juan Monaco (20th) and Carlos Moya (24th), many players will be given an automatic boost especially the players ranked 33 to 35 who now are included as seeds.

Andy Murray missed last year’s Wimbledon and Queens club due to injury and even had to pullout last week from Queens due to an injured thumb. Murray seemed unhappy with his seeding, he said

I feel I am one of the top grass-court players but because I missed Wimbledon I’m going to lose out which I think is a little bit tough. I think it should just be done on the rankings, which is much easier.

A strange gripe from Murray as 11th or 12th does not really make a difference to who potentially he could meet and if he really is one of the best grass court players he will benefit in years to come as he should be able to prove his ability this year at Wimbledon. Maybe it’s just his pride that is hurt.

The biggest beneficiary this year is Marcus Baghdatis who has been seeded 10th, which is a huge 15 places boost from his current world ranking of 25.  The Cypriot has played at Wimbledon in the last three years and reached the quarters last year and the semi’s in 2006, which is why he has been given such a seeding reward.

Other big winners are Tomas Berdych, who gains 8 places up to 11th seed from world ranking of 19th, Berdych reached the fourth round 2 years ago and quarter finals last year, but has also had some great grass court wins, winning Halle in 2007 and reaching the final in 2006. Former Wimbledon winner Lleyton Hewitt been given a 7 place boost from 27th in world rankings to 20th seed, as well as winning in 2002, he has been a semi finalist in 2005, two time quarter finalist in 2004 and 2006 and reached the 4th round last year. Dmitry Tursunov and Nicolas Kiefer both received 6 position boosts from their current world rankings.

Marcus Baghdatis and Tomas Berdych both Jumped Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka, but Andy Murray also jumped Wawrinka which meant Murray lost just 1 position whilst Wawrinka was shifted down 3 places. The biggest loser in the seeding switch around was Nicolas Almagro who was dropped 7 places from world ranking of 12th to 19th seed,  which means he could face one of the top 3 in the 3rd round rather than 4th – Almagro can have no complaints though and is unlikely to make it as far as the third round, has he has never won a match on grass, the only tournament he attempts on grass is Wimbledon, losing in the first round in the past 3 years. Other big losers were Tommy Robredo who was dropped 5 places, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and  Juan Monaco not even competing it means 7 players have jumped the Spaniard Robredo.

The top 7 were unaffected by these changes. Andy Murray will potentially meet Roger Federer, Rafael nadal or Novak Djokovic in the 4th round, this is the farthest Murray has ever progressed at Wimbledon, though lets not forget he has only played twice, losing to former finalist David Nalbandian (and fatigue) in the third round on his debut and the next year in the fourth round to Marcus Baghdatis, who’s skills on grass should be clear and apparent from his massive 15 place boost in these seeding.

Nicolas Almagro ended Andy Murray’s run at this years French Open. The clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro won in 4 sets 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-5.

Almagro got of to a quick start and broke Murray’s opening service game, the Spaniard went on to win the set rarely being troubled on his own serve. Andy Murray would battle back and claimed the second set on a tie breaker. He actually broke early in the third set to take control of the match, but Almagro won five straight games and the set. The Fourth set was a formality for Almagro as Murrays fight had beaten out of him.

Almagro will now play French wild card Jeremy Chardy who beat Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov, the 30th seed, 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-4.

After the match Murray said,

I think I proved I’m a good clay court player, You saw by the way that he reacted at the end of the match that it was a tough match. To win against me on clay, it is a very good result – I’m not someone that’s going to be taken lightly on this surface in the future. I believe that I’m going to be one of the top players on clay in a couple years. I just need a bit more experience, a bit more strength and understanding of how to play and I’ll be up there with the best players.

The 19th seed Almagro is very much a clay court specialists, in fact is rarely seen on any other surface. He has won 2 clay court titles this year in Brazil and Mexico and now boasts 28 wins on the surface this year.

Andy Murray’s attentions will now turn to the grass court season with StellaArtois Championship and Wimbledon just around the corner,

I want to try to win the tournament. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I believe that if I play my best tennis, I can win,” said Murray, who did not compete at the All England Club in 2007 because of a wrist injury. I’ve won against a lot of the top players. Not as many guys play so well on grass. If you can get through the first few rounds and work your way into the tournament, there’s no reason why not.