Nadal seeded fifth at Wimbledon

LONDON, June 19 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal, coming off a French Open victory that ran his 2013 record to 43-2, has been seeded No. 5 for the Wimbledon Championships, which begin next week.

Nadal has been men's tennis hottest player since returning in February after a 7-month hiatus due to a knee problem. He's entered nine tournaments since then, winning seven and finishing second twice. The string includes his Open Era-record eighth French Open title.

But tournament officials went by the rankings rather than recent success in determining the seedings for the 127th Wimbledon Championships. The year's third major tournament begins Monday and is scheduled to wrap July 7 with the men's singles final.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is 33-5 with an Australian Open championship and two other titles this year, has been made the No. 1 seed. Andy Murray, the runner-up to Djokovic at Australia after winning the 2012 U.S. Open, is seeded second followed by third-ranked Roger Federer. Federer beat Murray in four sets in last year's Wimbledon final.

David Ferrer, who, outside of an 0-4 record versus Nadal this year, is having a good year, is seeded fourth. He lost to Nadal in the French Open final but still passed his countryman in the rankings.

Nadal is fifth, causing a quirk that could -- depending on the draw later this week -- see him face Djokovic, Murray and Federer while seeking a third Wimbledon title.

Organizers did deviate from the rankings, however, in making Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is ranked seventh, the No. 6 seed. That pushed Tomas Berdych to the seventh seed while Juan Martin del Potro comes at eighth followed by No. 9 Richard Gasquet. Also, Marin Cilic, No. 12 in the rankings, was made the 10th seed.