Australian Open 2012: Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki Justly Earn Top Seed

Tournament organizers at the Australian Open followed a basic principle when determining that Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki would be the tournament's top seeds.

Keep it simple, stupid. From TSN:

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Tournament organizers stuck to convention and based the seedings for the season's first major on the current WTA and ATP rankings.

Djokovic is followed by 2009 champion Rafael Nadal, four-time champion Roger Federer and Andy Murray, who has lost the past two finals at the Australian Open. Of the top 32 men, only Robin Soderling and Marin Cilic are absent.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is seeded No. 2 and is followed by Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.

Kvitova can move from No. 2 to No. 1 in the rankings by winning the Sydney International —where nine of the top 10 women are playing, including Wozniacki—but it wouldn't change the Australian Open seedings. All the top 32 women have entered the Melbourne draw.

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It's hard to argue against Djokovic as the top seed after a 2011 that saw him win three of the four Grand Slams, 10 titles overall, 41 straight matches, finish with a 70-6 record on the year as the ATP's top-ranked player and set a tour record for earnings by making $12.6 million dollars.

You get all of that?

As for Wozniacki, the case is a little trickier. Yes, she finished 2011 as the WTA's top-ranked player after winning six titles and leading the tour with 63 match wins.

But second-ranked player Petra Kvitova also won six titles, along with a Grand Slam at Wimbledon. And she might very well be the top-rated player in the world by the time the Australian Open rolls around.

Then again, she might not be. And though it was Kvitova and not Wozniacki who was voted WTA Player of the Year last year after improving 32 places in the world rankings, Wozniacki nonetheless remains the world's top-ranked player.

She may not be as sexy a pick as Kvitova (on the court, that is), but her body of work last year earned her this top seed.

Even if she isn't able to keep her top ranking for long.

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