DEFENDING champion Andy Murray will be No 1 seed at Wimbledon for the first time this fortnight. The world No 1 - who beat Milos Raonic to win the title for the second time in 2016 - leads a top four of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Wimbledon is the only slam where seedings do not automatically follow rankings, with greater weight being given to recent results on grass. Djokovic and Federer are the main beneficiaries, with the Serb, the champion in 2014 and 2015, seeded second despite having dropped to fourth in the rankings while Federer, a winner in Halle last week, jumps ahead of World No 2 Nadal, who has struggled on grass in recent years. It is the first time the ‘big four’ of men’s tennis have been the top four seeds at a slam since Wimbledon 2014, with world No 3 Stan Wawrinka, who has never reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon, seeded fifth.

The women’s seedings match the rankings and are headed by world number one Angelique Kerber, who was beaten in the final by Serena Williams last year. In the absence of the 23-time Grand Slam champion as she awaits the birth of her first child, Simona Halep is seeded second, Karolina Pliskova third and Elina Svitolina fourth. Britain’s Johanna Konta is seeded sixth - the highest for a British woman since Virginia Wade in 1979. Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares are seeded third in the men’s doubles as they chase their first Wimbledon title, but Scotland’s Maia Lumsden’s hopes of qualifying for the main draw are over, after the 19-year-old lost narrowly to Barbora Krejcikova by a 4-6, 7-6(1), 10-8 in just under three hours.