Seedings for Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Entire Australian Open 2019 List

Timothy RappJan 9, 2019

The Australian Open has released its seedings for the tournament starting on Jan. 14, with top-ranked player Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep earning the top seeds, per the Associated Press.

The entire seedings for the men are as follows:

1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain
3. Roger Federer, Switzerland
4. Alexander Zverev, Germany
5. Kevin Anderson, South Africa
6. Marin Cilic, Croatia
7. Dominic Thiem, Austria
8. Kei Nishikori, Japan
9. John Isner, United States
10. Karen Khachanov, Russia
11. Borna Coric, Croatia
12. Fabio Fognini, Italy
13. Kyle Edmund, Britain
14. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
15. Daniil Medvedev, Russia
16. Milos Raonic, Canada
17. Marco Cecchinato, Italy
18. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina
19. Nikoloz Basilashvili, Georgia
20. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
21. David Goffin, Belgium
22. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
23. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain
24. Hyeon Chung, South Korea
25. Denis Shapovalov, Canada
26. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
27. Alex de Minaur, Australia
28. Lucas Pouille, France
29. Gilles Simon, France
30. Gael Monfils, France
31. Steve Johnson, United States
32. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany

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And the women's seeding are as follows:

1. Simona Halep, Romania
2. Angelique Kerber, Germany
3. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
4. Naomi Osaka, Japan
5. Sloane Stephens, United States
6. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
7. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
8. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
9. Kiki Bertens, Netherlands
10. Daria Kasatkina, Russia
11. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus
12. Elise Mertens, Belgium
13. Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia
14. Julia Goerges, Germany
15. Ashleigh Barty, Australia
16. Serena Williams, United States
17. Madison Keys, United States
18. Garbine Muguruza, Spain
19. Caroline Garcia, France
20. Anett Kontaveit, Estonia
21. Wang Qiang, China
22. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia
23. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
24. Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine
25. Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania
26. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
27. Camila Giorgi, Italy
28. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan
29. Donna Vekic, Croatia
30. Maria Sharapova, Russia
31. Petra Martic, Croatia
32. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic

Both defending champions—Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki—come in as No. 3 seeds, while some fans may be surprised to see Serena Williams as just the No. 16 seed. Williams missed last year's tournament after the birth of her daughter in September 2017, resulting in the lower seed.

Nonetheless, Williams—who has won the Australian Open seven times, and reached the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, though she failed to claim a title in either tournament—will be among the favorites in Melbourne.

And then there's superstar Rafael Nadal, who holds the No. 2 seed, and Andy Murray, who isn't seeded but will be participating.

On the men's side, there's little doubt that Federer will be the prohibitive favorite, having won in Melbourne two years in a row and six times overall in his career. But Djokovic believes the title will likely come down to one of himself, Federer, Nadal or Murray.

"I think if we are healthy and playing well, the four guys still have probably the best chance to always win Slams," he said, per the AFP (via the Times of India).

"[Pete] Sampras once upon a time said, 'If you win a Slam, it's a good season,'" Federer added. "I played super well in Australia again, so obviously I can't wait to go back there. I'm very proud that at 37 I'm still so competitive."

The women's field is a bit more open below Williams, with Wozniacki, Halep, Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka each claiming Grand Slam titles a year ago. In total, eight different players have won the last eight Grand Slams and 10 different players have claimed the last 13 on the women's side, a remarkable run of parity.

Since 2015, only Kerber (three titles) and Williams (five) have won multiple titles amongst the women.