WIMBLEDON, England – Defending champions Lleyton Hewitt and Serena Williams are seeded No. 1 for Wimbledon.

Hewitt got the top seeding Monday ahead of Andre Agassi, who replaced the Australian as No. 1 in this week’s ATP Tour rankings.

Agassi was seeded No. 2, followed by French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick.

By tradition, Hewitt will play the first match on Centre Court when the two-week championships open June 23.

On the women’s side, Williams was seeded ahead of Belgian star Kim Clijsters and French Open winner Justine Henin-Hardenne. Serena’s older sister, Venus, was seeded No. 4.

The seeding means the Williams sisters could be in the same half of the draw and meet before the final. They met in four of the last five Grand Slam finals.

The draw will be held Tuesday.

Wimbledon takes into account the unusual nature of grass-court tennis and is the only Grand Slam that does not adhere strictly to the ATP and WTA tour rankings in seeding players.

The major deviation from the ATP rankings was for British favorite Tim Henman. Ranked No. 29 on the ATP tour, he was bumped up to the No. 10 spot on the Wimbledon list. Henman has been a Wimbledon semifinalist four of the last five years, but is nursing a shoulder injury this season.

Xavier Malisse of Belgium, a semifinalist last year, and Arnaud Clement of France were other beneficiaries of Wimbledon’s seeding system. Malisse, ranked No. 31, was seeded No. 14. Clement, ranked 30th, was seeded No. 15.

For the women, the seeding committee followed the rankings. The only exception was caused by the withdrawal of 18th-ranked Monica Seles with a foot injury. In her absence, players ranked below her moved up one spot.

Kournikova withdraws

WIMBLEDON, England – Anna Kournikova has pulled out of Wimbledon because of a back injury.

The Wimbledon referee’s office said Monday the Russian had notified the All England Club of her withdrawal on Friday. The tournament begins June 23.

On Monday, No. 4 Carlos Moya of Spain and Tommy Haas of Germany withdrew with unspecified injuries.

A tearful Kournikova withdrew from the DFS Classic grass-court tournament in Birmingham last week after aggravating her injury in practice.

Kournikova, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 1997, has won only one of 10 matches this year on the WTA Tour and withdrawn from a series of tournaments with leg and back problems. She has slipped to No. 77 in the rankings.

Kournikova hasn’t played in a tour-level tournament since retiring from her opening match at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., on April 9.

Moya lost in the French Open quarterfinals in five sets to eventual champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Haas, who had surgery on his right shoulder in December, missed the French Open and last week’s Wimbledon tuneup in Halle, Germany.

Other players who have withdrawn from Wimbledon include former champion Goran Ivanisevic, Monica Seles and former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson.

AP-ES-06-16-03 1347EDT