PARIS -- Defending champion Gustavo Kuerten, who holds the
No. 1 spot in the rankings, will be the top-seeded player at next
week's French Open.
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French Open men's seeds
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1. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil
2. Marat Safin, Russia
3. Andre Agassi, U.S.
4. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain
5. Pete Sampras, U.S.
6. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
7. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia
8. Patrick Rafter, Australia
9. Magnus Norman, Sweden
10. Sebastien Grosjean, France
11. Tim Henman, Britain
12. Arnaud Clement, France
13. Alex Corretja, Spain
14. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden
15. Jan-Michael Gambill, U.S.
16. Franco Squillari, Argentina
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He will be followed in the men's seedings by Marat Safin, Andre
Agassi, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Pete Sampras.
The $10 million French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament
played on clay, starts Monday. Seedings are based on the ATP's
rolling 52-week ranking system.
Agassi, winner of the French Open in 1999, won the year's first
Grand Slam event -- the Australian Open. Sampras holds a record 13
Grand Slam titles but has never gotten past the semifinals at the
French.
Kuerten won the Monte Carlo Masters Series in April and this
month reached the final of the Italian Open in Rome, another major
clay-court tournament. He won the French Open in 1998 and again
last year.
Ferrero beat Kuerten in the Italian Open. The 21-year-old
clay-court specialist from Spain reached the semifinals at Roland
Garros last year and was considered one of Kuerten's biggest rivals
for the title this year.
However, a groin injury that flared in the final of the German
Open last weekend has left Ferrero unsure whether he'll be able to
play at Roland Garros.
Last year's runner-up in the French Open, Magnus Norman of
Sweden, is seeded ninth. The only other seeded American is No. 15
Jan-Michael Gambill.
The women's seeds are set to be announced later Tuesday or
Wednesday morning, a French Tennis Federation spokesman said.
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