Cameron Norrie admits it is “pretty cool” to be seeded ninth at this year’s Wimbledon but admitted it did little to guarantee a deep run in the competition.
The ranking of the 26-year-old has impressively risen over the last 12 months with victory at Indian Wells in October a key milestone.
Norrie was seeded 29th at the All England Club in 2021 and it meant he faced Roger Federer in the third round, with the Swiss great triumphing in four sets.
While the world number 12 will not take anything for granted, he knows being a high seed should help his chances of making the second week of a grand slam having reached the last 32 on five occasions.
"It’s great. Being seeded helps," Norrie said after a 6-4 6-2 win over Brandon Nakashima at the Rothesay International Eastbourne.
"I will take it one match at a time and for me I have still not reached the second week so it would be nice to do that. I guess the seeding helps and that is a result of winning matches and stringing them together, so I will take that.
"Being ninth is pretty cool and pretty crazy. It all happened pretty quickly, getting up there, which has been a lot of fun but it still means nothing. You still have to win the matches."
Norrie is bumped up three places compared to his world ranking due to the absence of Russian and Belarussian athletes at SW19 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
World number one Daniil Medvedev and Russian compatriot Andrey Rublev are both missing from the Championships, while world number two Alexander Zverev is also out due to injury.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal assume the top two men’s seeding while British number two Dan Evans is seeded 29th.
US Open champion Emma Raducanu will be the 10th seed in the women’s draw.
The teenager, who has been battling an injury to her side in the build-up to the tournament, advances one place from her world ranking due to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka being ineligible to compete.
Iga Swiatek tops the women’s seeds ahead of Anett Kontaveit.
