Murray, Kerber top seeds at Australian Open, Federer is 17th

World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.

Britain’s Murray will be aiming to clinch his first title at MelbournePark after losing in the finals of the tournament for five times, including in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016 to Serbian rival Novak Djokovic, who is seeded second.

Meanwhile, reigning Australian and US Open champion, Kerber will head to Australia hoping to defend her first Grand Slam title.

The Australian Open will stick with the current rankings when it seeds 32 players in each of the men's and women's 128-player singles draws.

Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic is seeded-third, with US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych completing the top 10.

Serena Williams, looking for her 23rd Grand Slam title to beat Steffi Graf's Open-era record, is scheduled to again meet Kerber in the women's final and is seeded second followed by Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkova, Garbine Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Johanna Konta and Carla Suarez Navarro, who complete the top 10 women's seeds.

Four-time men's singles champion, Switzerland’s Roger Federer will start at No.17 as he makes a comeback after six-month long injury layoff.

Federer recently slipped to No. 17 in the rankings after an early exit from the Brisbane International which was won by Grigor Dimitrov, who moved up the rankings to No 15.

Seedings:

Men's singles

1. Andy Murray (GBR), 2. Novak Djokovic (SRB), 3. Milos Raonic (CAN), 4. Stan Wawrinka (SUI), 5. Kei Nishikori (JPN), 6. Gael Monfils (FRA), 7. Marin Cilic (CRO), 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT), 9. Rafael Nadal (ESP), 10. Tomas Berdych (CZE), 11. David Goffin (BEL), 12. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA), 13. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP), 14. Nick Kyrgios (AUS), 15. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL), 16. Lucas Pouille (FRA), 17. Roger Federer (SUI), 18. Richard Gasquet (FRA), 19. John Isner (USA), 20. Ivo Karlovic (CRO), 21. David Ferrer (ESP), 22. Pablo Cuevas (URU), 23. Jack Sock (USA), 24. Alexander Zverev (GER), 25. Gilles Simon (FRA), 26. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP), 27. Bernard Tomic (AUS), 28. Feliciano Lopez (ESP), 29. Viktor Troicki (SRB), 30. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP), 31. Sam Querrey (USA), 32. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)

Women's singles 

1. Angelique Kerber (GER), 2. Serena Williams (USA), 3. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), 4. Simona Halep (ROM), 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE), 6. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), 7. Garbine Muguruza (ESP), 8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), 9. Johanna Konta (GBR), 10. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP), 11. Elina Svitolina (UKR), 12. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), 13. Venus Williams (USA), 14. Elena Vesnina (RUS), 15. Roberta Vinci (ITA), 16. Barbora Strycova (CZE), 17. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), 18. Samantha Stosur (AUS), 19. Kiki Bertens (NED), 20. Zhang Shuai (CHN), 21 Caroline Garcia (FRA), 22. Daria Gavrilova (AUS), 23. Daria Kasatkina (RUS), 24. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS), 25. Timea Babos (HUN), 26. Laura Siegemund (GER), 27. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM), 28. Alize Cornet (FRA), 29. Monica Puig (PUR), 30. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS), 31. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), 32. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)