Seeding (sports)

Last updated

In sport, seeding is the practice of separating the most skilled competitors from each other in the early rounds of a tournament. Players or teams are "planted" into the bracket in such a manner that the best do not meet until later in the competition, usually based on ranking from the regular season. The term was first used in tennis, [1] and is based on the notion of scattering the top players' names across the bracket in the way that a sower scatters seeds.

Contents

Sometimes the remaining competitors in a single-elimination tournament will be "re-seeded" so that the highest surviving seed is made to play the lowest surviving seed in the next round, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, etc. This may be done after each round, or only at selected intervals. [2]

Tennis

Professional tennis tournaments seed players based on their rankings. The number of seeds varies from tournament to tournament. Generally the bigger the event the more seeds there tend to be relative to lesser events. The four major (Grand Slam) tournaments progressively expanded from 8-seed format to 16-seed, then to the current 32-seed format, which was adopted in the middle of the 2001 season, after French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten had complained that clay-court specialists were at a disadvantage with just 16 seeds. [3]

In a tennis event, one version of seeding is where brackets are set up so that the quarterfinal pairings (barring any upsets) would be the 1 seed vs. the 8 seed, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5. However, most tennis tournaments follow a different procedure, in which the 1 and 2 seeds are placed in separate brackets, but then the 3 and 4 seeds are assigned to their brackets randomly, and so are seeds 5 through 8, and so on. This may result in some brackets consisting of stronger players than other brackets. A further randomization derives from the fact that the top 32 players only are seeded in Tennis Grand Slam tournaments: therefore it is conceivable that the 33rd best player in a 128-player field could end up playing the top seed in the first round. A good example of this occurring was when World No. 33 Florian Mayer was drawn against (and eventually defeated by) then-World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, [4] in what was also a rematch of a quarter-final from the previous year. [5] Rankings of tennis players, based on a history of performance, tend to change positions gradually, and so a more "equitable" method of determining the pairings might result in many of the same head-to-head match-ups being repeated in successive tournaments.

An example is given hereafter of a seeded 16-team bracket with no upsets (note that sums of the two seed numbers in each match are equal within a round: 17 for First round, 9 for Quarterfinals, 5 for Semi-finals):

First round Quarterfinals Semi-finals Final
            
1  
16  
1  
8  
8  
9  
1  
4  
5  
12  
5  
4  
4  
13  
1  
2  
6  
11  
6  
3  
3  
14  
3  
2  
7  
10  
7  
2  
2  
15  

Other sports

In American team sports, the NFL playoffs and WNBA playoffs employ re-seeding, the NBA playoffs and the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament do not, the Stanley Cup Playoffs used re-seeding between 1975 and 1981 and again from 1994 and 2013, the MLS Cup Playoffs used reseeding until 2018

In some situations, a seeding restriction will be implemented; from 1975 until 1989 in the NFL and from 1998 until 2011 in MLB there was a rule where in the first round should the top seed and wild card be from the same division, they would not play each other; in those cases, the top seed played the third seed and the second seed played the wild card team. Since 2022, where enough teams made the playoffs where it would make a difference MLB has also not re seeded

Association football

Seeding in major tournaments is commonplace. The FIFA World Cup has employed seeding since it was first established in 1930. [6] The FIFA World Rankings introduced in 1992 have been part of the seeding since the 1998 tournament. Nations from the same confederation are kept apart where possible.

Seeding of clubs in the UEFA Champions League was introduced in 1992–93 for the preliminary round and extended to the full tournament from 1994–95. The UEFA coefficients for national associations and individual clubs are used to determine the seedings; the coefficient for national teams is similarly used for seeding the UEFA European Championship. These coefficients are based on results in UEFA competitions over the previous five seasons. [7]

There is limited seeding in the FA Cup, in that clubs from higher divisions enter the draw at later rounds, but are not kept apart within that round. The third round proper, when top divisions enter, typically features a few matchups between Premier League sides.

In Liga MX teams with the higher seed in the league playoffs advance if the match is drawn after 2 legs.

Related Research Articles

A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, whose winner becomes the tournament champion(s). Each match-up may be a single match or several, for example two-legged ties in European sports or best-of series in North American pro sports. Defeated competitors may play no further part after losing, or may participate in "consolation" or "classification" matches against other losers to determine the lower final rankings; for example, a third place playoff between losing semi-finalists. In a shootout poker tournament, there are more than two players competing at each table, and sometimes more than one progresses to the next round. Some competitions are held with a pure single-elimination tournament system. Others have many phases, with the last being a single-elimination final stage, often called playoffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Wawrinka</span> Swiss tennis player (born 1985)

Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 on 27 January 2014. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, at the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 French Open and at the 2016 US Open, where he defeated the world No. 1 player in the final on all three occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo-Wilfried Tsonga</span> French tennis player (born 1985)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on the ATP Tour, including two Masters 1000 titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Istomin</span> Uzbek professional tennis player (born 1986)

Denis Olegovich Istomin is an Uzbekistani professional tennis player. He won two singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in August 2012. In January 2017, he defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novak Djokovic</span> Serbian tennis player (born 1987)

Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked No. 1 for a record total of 428 weeks in a record 13 different years by the ATP, and finished as the year-end No. 1 a record eight times. Djokovic has won a record 24 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record ten Australian Open titles. Overall, he has won 99 singles titles, including a record 72 Big Titles: 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, a record seven year-end championships, and an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces. In singles, he is the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam, and the only player to complete a Career Golden Masters, a feat he has accomplished twice. Djokovic is the only player in singles to have won all of the Big Titles over the course of his career, having completed the Career Super Slam as part of that accomplishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Federer career statistics</span>

This is a list of the main career statistics of Swiss former professional tennis player Roger Federer. All statistics are according to the ATP Tour website. Federer won 103 ATP singles titles including 20 majors, 28 ATP Masters, and six ATP Finals. Federer was also a gold medalist in men's doubles with Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver medalist in singles at the 2012 London Olympics. Representing Switzerland, Federer participated in winning the 2014 Davis Cup and a record three Hopman Cup titles. He is the first Swiss male player to win a major title, the only Swiss male player to hold the No. 1 ranking in singles, and the only Swiss player, male or female, to win all four majors. He helped Team Europe win three consecutive Laver Cup titles, the 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafael Nadal career statistics</span> Statistics of professional tennis player

This is a list of the main career statistics of former professional tennis player Rafael Nadal. All statistics are according to the ATP Tour website. To date, Nadal has won 92 ATP singles titles, including 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles and 36 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles. He is one of three men to achieve the Career Golden Slam in men's singles, with titles at all four majors and the Olympic singles gold. He is the first man in history to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces in a calendar year and is the youngest (24) in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam. He is the fourth man in history to complete the double Career Grand Slam in singles, after Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, and Novak Djokovic. He is the first man to win multiple majors and rank world No. 1 in three different decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Bautista Agut</span> Spanish professional tennis player (born 1988)

Roberto Bautista Agut is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the ATP in singles, achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista Agut has won twelve ATP singles titles out of twenty three finals, the biggest being the ATP 500 2018 Dubai Tennis Championships. His biggest final has been the 2016 Shanghai Masters, where he lost to Andy Murray. His best result at a major has been at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, where he reached the semifinals.

This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2011. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, and the Fed Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radu Albot</span> Moldovan tennis player (born 1989)

Radu Albot is a Moldovan professional tennis player. He is the first player from Moldova to win ATP World Tour singles and doubles titles. He achieved a career high ranking of No. 39 on 5 August 2019. He is also the first Moldovan to break into the top 100 in August 2015 and four years later in the top 40.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Kudla</span> American tennis player

Denis Kudla is a professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 53, achieved in May 2016. His career-high doubles ranking is No. 133, achieved in August 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Wimbledon Championships</span> Tennis tournament

The 2013 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 127th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from 24 June to 7 July 2013. It was the third Grand Slam tennis event of the year and was part of the ATP World Tour, the WTA Tour, the ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour. The championships were organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and the International Tennis Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Kyrgios</span> Australian Greek tennis player (born 1995)

Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios is an Australian professional tennis player. Kyrgios has been ranked as high as world No. 13 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2019 and 2022 Washington Open, and reached eleven finals, most notably a major final at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, and a Masters 1000 final at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters. In doubles Kyrgios has a career-high ranking of world No. 11, achieved on 7 November 2022, winning a major doubles title at the 2022 Australian Open partnering Thanasi Kokkinakis. He has reached three major singles quarterfinals.

The 2014 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis year-end tournament played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 9 and 16 November 2014. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams on the 2014 ATP World Tour. The Bryan Brothers won the title at the doubles tournament, while Novak Djokovic successfully defended his single title for the second time after Roger Federer withdrew from the final, the first walkover in a final in the tournament's 45-year history.

This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2014. It primarily provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the Association of Tennis Professionals and Women's Tennis Association Tours, the Davis Cup, and the Fed Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniil Medvedev</span> Russian tennis player (born 1996)

Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 1 in men's singles by the ATP. He has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2021 US Open and 2020 ATP Finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorenzo Musetti</span> Italian tennis player (born 2002)

Lorenzo Musetti is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ATP ranking of World No. 15 achieved on 26 June 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 142 achieved on 1 April 2024. He is currently the No. 2 Italian. Musetti has won two ATP Tour singles titles. In 2024, he achieved his best career major performance by reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, and won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has also won two titles on the ATP Challenger and two ITF World Tennis Tour titles. He was part of Team Italy winning the 2023 and 2024 Davis Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Four career statistics</span> Statistics for mens singles tennis players

This is a list of the combined career statistics of the Big Four, the four players who have dominated men's tennis in singles for the majority of the first quarter of the 21st century. The Big Four consists of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.

Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Matteo Berrettini in the final, 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. It was his sixth Wimbledon title and 20th major title overall, tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's all-time record total of men's singles titles.

References

  1. ↑ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2002), Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, Page 2737, ISBN   0-19-860457-2
  2. ↑ Archived 2015-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Grand Slams vote to keep 32 seeds - Tennis.life". Tennis.life. 2018-09-13. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  4. ↑ Wimbledon: Novak vs Mayer in R1; Andy, Roger, Rafa all in bottom half, Novak Djokovic official website, 21 June 2013
  5. ↑ Wimbledon 2013: Men's matches to watch out for, The Roar, 22 June 2013
  6. ↑ "FIFA World Cup Seeding System: 1930 - 2014" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  7. ↑ "Champions League seeds confirmed for 2019-20". ESPN.com. 2019-06-01. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.