Djokovic, Serena top Australia Open seeding lists

Defending champions and world No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams top the Australian Open seedings lists, which follow rankings ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2016.

Four-time finalist Andy Murray was seeded No. 2, 17-time major winner Roger Federer was No. 3 and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka was No. 4, one higher than Rafael Nadal, according to Xinhua news agency.

On the women's side, Simona Halep was No. 2, Garbine Muguruza was No. 3, Agieszka Radwanska was No. 4 and Maria Sharapova, the 2008 champion and finalist last year, was No. 5. 

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka moved back into the top 16 with her victory at the Brisbane International last week, her first title since 2013.

She finished last season at No. 22 but moved up the rankings with her title run in the Australian Open warmup tournament and was seeded No. 14 at Melbourne Park, meaning she avoids early-round encounters with the top-ranked players. 

A win over 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori and a run to the semifinals at the Brisbane International lifted Australia's Bernard Tomic to a No. 16 seeding in the men's draw. 

The Australian Open draw will take place on Friday. 

Following are the seeding lists.  
Men's  
1.  Novak Djokovic, Serbia  
2.  Andy Murray, Britain  
3.  Roger Federer, Switzerland  
4.  Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland  
5.  Rafael Nadal, Spain  
6.  Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic  
7.  Kei Nishikori, Japan  
8.  David Ferrer, Spain  
9.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France  
10. John Isner, United States  
11. Kevin Anderson, South Africa  
12. Marin Cilic, Croatia  
13. Milos Raonic, Canada  
14. Gilles Simon, France  
15. David Goffin, Belgium  
16. Bernard Tomic, Australia  
17. Benoit Paire, France  
18. Feliciano Lopez, Spain  
19. Dominic Thiem, Austria  
20. Fabio Fognini, Italy  
21. Viktor Troicki, Serbia  
22. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia  
23. Gael Monfils, France  
24. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain  
25. Jack Sock, United States  
26. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain  
27. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria  
28. Andreas Seppi, Italy  
29. Nick Kyrgios, Australia  
30. Jeremy Chardy, France  
31. Steve Johnson, United States  
32. Joao Sousa, Portugal  

Women's  
1.  Serena Williams, United States  
2.  Simona Halep, Romania  
3.  Garbine Muguruza, Spain  
4.  Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland  
5.  Maria Sharapova, Russia  
6.  Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic  
7.  Angelique Kerber, Germany  
8.  Venus Williams, United States  
9.  Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic  
10. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain  
11. Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland  
12. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland  
13. Roberta Vinci, Italy  
14. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus  
15. Madison Keys, United States  
16. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark  
17. Sara Errani, Italy  
18. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine  
19. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia  
20. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia  
21. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia  
22. Andrea Petkovic, Germany  
23. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia  
24. Sloane Stephens, United States  
25. Samantha Stosur, Australia  
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia  
27. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Slovakia  
28. Kristina Mladenovic, France  
29. Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania  
30. Sabine Lisicki, Germany  
31. Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine  
32. Caroline Garcia, France     

--Indo-Asian News Service
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