Federer,Serena given top billing

No. 1-ranked Roger Federer and Serena Williams top the lists of seeded players for the Australian Open,with Belgiums Yanina Wickmayer the only highly-ranked player missing out.

Wickmayer,who won the Auckland WTA tournament last week her first event since her one-year ban for doping violations was overturned is ranked 16th but is playing in the qualifying tournament. An ITF spokesman said on Thursday that because Wickmayer was ineligible to play the Australian Open when entries closed,she had to enter the qualifying tournament.

Serena Williams has won the Australian title each odd-numbered year since 2003,beating No. 2 Dinara Safina in last years final. Safina is seeded second this year,followed by French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova,US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark,Olympic champion Elena Dementieva and Venus Williams. Clijsters was seeded 15th.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal is seeded second,followed by 2008 Australian champion Novak Djokovic,Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Murray.