Ashleigh Barty is taking the Wimbledon top seeding in her stride after the All England Club afforded the newly crowned No.1 one of the most prestigious honours in tennis.
Adding further lustre to her phenomenal season, Barty is the first Australian woman to headline the Wimbledon draw since Margaret Court in 1973.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1977 was the last Aussie women’s top seed at any grand slam event.
“It’s a completely new situation,” the French Open champion said ahead of Friday’s draw in London.
“There are so many extremely high quality players and they’re all edging for that spot.
“I’ll continue to go about my work in the same way and see what happens.”
The last time any Australian was top seed at a major, it all ended in despair with Lleyton Hewitt becoming the first defending champion to lose in the opening round at Wimbledon in the professional era after falling to serving monster Ivo Karlovic in 2003.
Eighteen-times major champion Chris Evert claimed it would take a “Herculean effort” for Barty to extend her 12-match winning streak to the 19 needed to capture tennis’s greatest prize,
Little wonder the 23-year-old admits to being unsure how she’ll handle the pressure of favouritism.
“I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see,” Barty said.
“I feel like I’m playing good tennis but it’s such an open field, if I’m being brutally honest.
“For me, there are so many potential new situations at Wimbledon. It’s essential I go out to prepare the best I can.”
German titleholder Angelique Kerber has been seeded fifth this year, with seven-times Wimbledon champion Serena Williams the 11th seed.
Alex de Minaur, at No.25, is the only Australian men’s seed this year.
Nick Kyrgios is unseeded for the first time since shocking then-world No.1 Rafael Nadal on debut to reach the quarter-finals as a teenager in 2014.
Kyrgios has fallen to No.43 in the world rankings, leaving him vulnerable at Friday’s draw.
World No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic is the men’s top seed ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
LEADING SEEDINGS FOR WIMBLEDON STARTING ON MONDAY:
WOMEN
1. Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
2. Naomi Osaka (JPN)
3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
4. Kiki Bertens (NED)
5. Angelique Kerber (GER)
6. Petra Kvitova (CZE)
7. Simona Halep (ROM)
8. Elina Svitolina (UKR)
MEN
1.Novak Djokovic (SRB)
2. Roger Federer (SUI)
3. Rafael Nadal (ESP)
4. Kevin Anderson (RSA)
5. Dominic Thiem (AUT)
6. Alexander Zverev (GER)
7. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
8. Kei Nishikori (JPN)
