Melbourne - Six-time champion Novak Djokovic will lurk as 14th seed for next week's Australian Open in Melbourne, with Rafael Nadal seeded top, organisers said on Thursday.
Nadal heads defending champion Roger Federer at the top of
the men's seedings, with Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki seeded one and two
in the women's competition.
The seedings have gone largely according to the ATP world rankings, although Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori are out injured and women's champion Serena Williams opted not to play after giving birth in September.
Djokovic made a winning return on Wednesday after six months out with an elbow injury, declaring he felt "great" after beating world number five Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 at the Kooyong Classic.
It was the 12-time Grand Slam winner's first competitive outing since losing a Wimbledon quarter-final to Tomas Berdych last July.
The Serbian former world number one had pulled out of a warm-up tournament in Abu Dhabi, raising concerns over his fitness ahead of the year's opening Grand Slam.
Federer, seeded second, and will bid for his 20th Grand Slam title in the bottom half of the draw.
Former winner Stan Wawrinka, who hasn't played since Wimbledon but said he has recovered sufficiently from a knee injury, is seeded at nine.
In a women's field notably missing 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, there appear to be many chances of a new Australian Open champion this year.
Seven-time champion Williams announced last week she wouldn't defend her title, saying she was "super close" but not quite ready to compete so soon after becoming a mother.
Spain's Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza is seeded three, while Serena's sister Venus has the fifth seeding.
Singles seedings announced Thursday for the Australian Open beginning Monday at Melbourne Park:
Men
1. Rafael Nadal
2. Roger Federer
3. Grigor Dimitrov
4. Alexander Zverev
5. Dominic Thiem
6. Marin Cilic
7. David Goffin
8. Jack Sock
9. Stan Wawrinka
10. Pablo Carreno Busta
11. Kevin Anderson
12. Juan Martin del Potro
13. Sam Querrey
14. Novak Djokovic
15. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
16. John Isner
17. Nick Kyrgios
18. Lucas Pouille
19. Tomas Berdych
20. Roberto Bautista Agut
21. Albert Ramos-Vinolas
22. Milos Raonic
23. Gilles Muller
24. Diego Schwartzman
25. Fabio Fognini
26. Adrian Mannarino
27. Philipp Kohlschreiber
28. Damir Dzumhur
29. Richard Gasquet
30. Andrey Rublev
31. Pablo Cuevas
32. Mischa Zverev
Women
1. Simona Halep
2. Caroline Wozniacki
3. Garbine Muguruza
4. Elina Svitolina
5. Venus Williams
6. Karolina Pliskova
7. Jelena Ostapenko
8. Caroline Garcia
9. Johanna Konta
10. CoCo Vandeweghe
11. Kristina Mladenovic
12. Julia Goerges
13. Sloane Stephens
14. Anastasija Sevastova
15. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
16. Elena Vesnina
17. Madison Keys
18. Ashleigh Barty
19. Magdalena Rybarikova
20. Barbora Strycova
21. Angelique Kerber
22. Daria Kasatkina
23. Daria Gavrilova
24. Dominika Cibulkova
25. Peng Shuai
26. Agnieszka Radwanska
27. Petra Kvitova
28. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
29. Lucie Safarova
30. Kiki Bertens
31. Ekaterina Makarova
32. Anett Kontaveit
