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Monday will mark the first day of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, as the best players in the sport will converge on London in hopes of adding a major title to their resume.
Looking to repeat as Wimbledon champion and continue his recent stranglehold on men's tennis, No. 1 overall Novak Djokovic will face a familiar foe, Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, in the very first round. Sure to be hot on Djokovic's heels throughout the two-week event will be the remainder of the top five men's seeds, as the combination of Rafael Nadal (No. 2), Roger Federer (No. 3), Andy Murray (No. 4) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No. 5) could easily produce this year's winner and runner-up, and is sure to out-class the majority of lower seeds until the final rounds.
Minnesota's own Mardy Fish will open in a favorable position as the 10th ranked men's player, and will begin his quest for a Grand Slam title with Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the opening round. From there, a win would pit Fish in a difficult head-to-head battle with the winner of the James Ward-Pablo Andujar first round match. The 30-year-old Fish reached the quarterfinal on Wimbledon's courts just last year, and will hope to make the final of a major for the first time in his career in this year's event.
On the women's side of the draw, 2011 champion Petra Kvitova will begin as the 4th ranked female player, narrowly behind the likes of Maria Sharapova (No. 1),Victoria Azarenka (No. 2) and Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 3). Four-time champion and former No. 1 Serena Williams has drawn a No. 6 seed and faces a tough road if she plans to win at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009.
View the full men's seedings and bracket at the official Wimbledon website.
For more Wimbledon 2012 coverage, stay with this StoryStream. For more tennis coverage, be sure to check out SB Nation's dedicated tennis hub.