Djokovic, Murray seeded 1st and 2nd at Wimbledon

LONDON – Novak Djokovic cannot face Andy Murray until the final at Wimbledon after they were seeded first and second, respectively, on Wednesday for the third tennis Grand Slam of the year.

It means Djokovic and Murray will be in separate halves of the draw when it is made on Friday.

Seedings were based on the current world rankings but rearranged to reflect players’ grass-court achievements.

Richard Gasquet, the 10th-ranked player of France and a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, is No. 7 and 13th-ranked Marin Cilic, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon the past two years, is No. 9. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., who has hired John McEnroe as his coach, is sixth.

The women’s seedings follow the WTA rankings, with six-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams at No. 1 and Garbine Muguruza at No. 2, followed by Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep.

Murray has lost 13 of his last 15 matches against Djokovic, including at the Australian and French Open finals this year, but he has won their last two meetings on grass.

Seventeen-time major champion Roger Federer is seeded third, immediately ahead of Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka. Kei Nishikori of Japan is No. 5.

Play starts Monday.