Sharapova highest ranked Russian on Wimbledon 2007

The seedings for next week’s Wimbledon have been announced with three Russians in the top eight of the women's draw. Over in the men’s, Nikolay Davydenko has been given a sixth seed placing despite being ranked fourth in the world.

Maria Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in 2004 aged 17, has reached the semis twice since then. She is ranked second behind world number one Justine Henin. Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo is fourth behind third seed Elena Jankovic.

Plenty more Russians are further down the list. Former US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded fifth. Anna Chakvetadze is eight. While Nadia Petrova, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina make up the ranking from 11 to 13. Part-time model Olga Puchkova has been handed the penultimate seeding.

In men’s, Nikolay Davydenko is still seeking his first grand slam championship. And he will be aiming to get beyond the second round at Wimbledon, which he has so far failed to do.

Fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny is seeded 14th. Dmitry Tursunov and two-time grand slam winner Marat Safin round up the Russian interest in the 32.

Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick are ranked second and third respectively with defending champion Roger Federer topping the list. Fedex is now aiming for fifth straight Wimbledon title.