No surprise: Federer No. 1 for Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England, June 18 (UPI) -- Roger Federer, who is seeking his sixth consecutive title at The Championships, was made the No. 1 seed for the 2008 Wimbledon tennis tournament.

With a solid No. 1 ranking, a grass-court record that doesn't show a loss since 2002 and a chance to become the first man in the Open Era to win at Wimbledon six consecutive years, it was no surprise Federer was No. 1 when Wimbledon officials released the seedings Wednesday.

The singles draw itself is to be announced Friday. The tournament begins Monday and runs through July 6.

Rafael Nadal, who handed Federer a drubbing in the final of the French Open, was seeded second, followed by, in order, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and David Ferrer.

Andy Roddick was seeded sixth while David Nalbandian was seventh followed by Richard Gasquet. While the first seventh seedings follow the ATP rankings, Gasquet is actually ranked ninth and so was bumped up one spot.

The second tier of players finds James Blake, ranked eighth but seeded ninth, and Marcos Baghdatis, who is ranked 25th but seeded 10th.