Safina takes No. 1 seeding for Wimbledon

LONDON, June 17 (UPI) -- Dinara Safina, drawing heat because she's ranked No. 1 despite not having a major title, was installed as the top women's seed for the Wimbledon Championships.

The seedings for the 2009 championships were announced Wednesday for the tournament. The first matches are scheduled for Monday and the women's singles final is July 4.

Safina is an impressive 20-2 since taking over the No. 1 world ranking in April. Both losses were to Svetlana Kuznetsova and both in tournament finals, including a rout in the French Open final.

But doubts, including by other players, have been raised about whether she deserves the top spot because she has not won a Grand Slam title. One of those detractors is No. 2-ranked Serena Williams, who is the No. 2 seed at Wimbledon.

Venus Williams was seeded third but it won't be known until Friday when the draws are released whether there could be an all-Williams Wimbledon final.

Elena Dementieva was seeded fourth ahead of Kuznetsova. Jelena Jankovic was seeded sixth while Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka rounded out the top eight seeds.