Seeding

Seeding is the practice of ranking a tournament's strongest entrants and spreading them through the draw so that they cannot meet early. The ATP Official Rulebook defines seeds as "players who are given preferential positions in the draw based on the PIF ATP Rankings", using the most recent ranking list; the Grand Slam Rule Book uses the list published about seven days before the tournament and requires at least 16 seeds. In practice the four majors seed 32 players in a 128 draw, as the 2026 US Open did. The number 1 seed goes to the top line, number 2 to the bottom, and the rest are drawn into set positions in groups.

When you see it

The bracketed number after a name, Zverev [1] or Darderi [21], is the seed. Seeds 1 and 2 can only meet in the final; the top four are kept apart until the semifinals. In the 96-player Masters 1000 draws the 32 seeds also skip the first round. A wild card may be seeded if their ranking warrants it; a protected ranking may not be used for seeding. If a seed withdraws before play starts, the next-highest ranked player moves into the seeding; a qualifier is never seeded.

Rule basis

ATP Official Rulebook, Chapter VII, 7.14 (Seeds Definition), 7.15 (Number of Seeds), 7.16 (Placement of Seeds) and 7.18 (Byes); Grand Slam Rule Book 2026, Main Draw entries, section f (Seeds).