Tennis ends the boycott threat

Wimbledon are to lead the way with a radical new seeding system which will be adopted by all four Grand Slam championships.

From now on there will be 32 seeds instead of the usual 16 in both men's and women's singles.

It will be based on the top 32 in the world rankings, but adjusted to reflect their form on different surfaces.

The Wimbledon rankings will be announced next Monday and incorporated into the Wimbledon draw the following day. Pete Sampras, who has won Wimbledon seven times, is fourth in the world rankings, but would be moved up to top seed based on the system proposed by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

But if Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten, who won the French title on clay for the third time yesterday, entered Wimbledon he would probably only take fifth spot.

That issue can not be tested this time, however, because Kuerten is resting a groin injury.

The change will boost Tim Henman's hopes of a higher seed than his current world ranking of 11 and take him to No 8, but Greg Rusedski, at 46th, is too far away to expect a jump to the top 32.

For this year only, the Wimbledon seeding committee will place the 32 women. Next year a surface-based system will be used.

The change means that players in the top 32 will not be under the threat of being tossed out for a lower-ranked player who happens to be a grass court specialist.