MELBOURNE, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal, who begins 2009 as the top-ranked tennis player in the world, was made the No. 1 seed Thursday for next week's Australian Open.
Jelena Jankovic will be the top seed in the women's draw.
Nadal, the current French Open and Wimbledon champion, has never made it past the semifinals of the Australian Open. He defeated Federer in the finals of both his Grand Slam triumphs last year and also won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
That allowed him to end Federer's four-year run at the top of the tennis world.
Federer, who has won the Australian Open three times and who closed out his year with a victory at the U.S. Open, will be the No. 2 seed. Nadal and Federer will be followed in the seeding order by Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The top five seeds in the women's competition will be Jankovic, Serena Villiams, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Ana Ivanovic.
