MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Defending champions and 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.
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.
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. John Isner was No. 10 and Milos Raonic, who beat Federer in the Brisbane final last weekend, was at No. 13.
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.
The Australian Open draw will take place on Friday.
Seeding lists.
Men's
- Novak Djokovic, Serbia
- Andy Murray, Britain
- Roger Federer, Switzerland
- Stan Wawrinka , Switzerland
- Rafael Nadal, Spain
- Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic
- Kei Nishikori, Japan
- David Ferrer, Spain
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France
- John Isner, United States
- Kevin Anderson, South Africa
- Marin Cilic, Croatia
- Milos Raonic, Canada
- Gilles Simon, France
- David Goffin, Belgium
- Bernard Tomic, Australia
- Benoit Paire, France
- Feliciano Lopez, Spain
- Dominic Thiem, Austria
- Fabio Fognini, Italy
- Viktor Troicki, Serbia
- Ivo Karlovic, Croatia
- Gael Monfils, France
- Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
- Jack Sock, United States
- Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain
- Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
- Andreas Seppi, Italy
- Nick Kyrgios, Australia
- Jeremy Chardy, France
- Steve Johnson, United States
- Joao Sousa, Portugal
Women's
- Serena Williams, United States
- Simona Halep, Romania
- Garbine Muguruza, Spain
- Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
- Maria Sharapova, Russia
- Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
- Angelique Kerber, Germany
- Venus Williams, United States
- Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
- Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
- Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland
- Belinda Bencic, Switzerland
- Roberta Vinci, Italy
- Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
- Madison Keys, United States
- Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
- Sara Errani, Italy
- Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
- Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
- Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
- Ekaterina Makarova, Russia
- Andrea Petkovic, Germany
- Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
- Sloane Stephens, United States
- Samantha Stosur, Australia
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
- Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Slovakia
- Kristina Mladenovic, France
- Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania
- Sabine Lisicki, Germany
- Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine
- Caroline Garcia, France