Wimbledon 2017: Andy Murray named top seed ahead of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

It is the first time since The 2014 Championships that the 'big four' have been named as the top seeds for a Grand Slam, and keeps the quartet apart until the semi-finals

Murray is the top seed at Wimbledon for the first time in his career (Getty )

Defending champion Andy Murray has been named the top seed at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.

Novak Djokovic is seeded second, Roger Federer third and Rafael Nadal fourth, as the ‘big four’ head up the rankings for the first time since 2014. It means that the quartet will be kept apart until the semi-finals.

Djokovic and Federer are arguably the biggest beneficiaries. Djokovic, who won the men’s singles in 2014 and 2015, is seeded second despite slipping to fourth in the ATP world rankings – his lowest position since late 2009.

Federer is ranked the World No 5 having decided to skip the entire clay-court season, including the French Open. But his seven Wimbledon titles as well as his recent success at Halle sees him seeded third.

The World No 3 Stan Wawrinka is seeded fifth, which means he could face one of the top four players in the quarter-finals, with last year’s runner-up Milos Raonic is sixth.

Juan Martin del Potro is seeded for the first-time since 2013, when he lost to Djokovic in five sets in the semi-final. Grass-court specialist Gilles Muller is the biggest mover, seeded 16th despite his position as the World No 26.

The last time Del Potro was seeded he reached the semi-finals (Getty)

Wimbledon is the only grand slam tournament where the seedings do not automatically follow the rankings, with greater weight being given to recent results on grass in the men's event.

The women’s seedings meanwhile match the current WTA world rankings.

World No 1 Angelique Kerber is the top seed and will be hoping to improve on her recent performance at the French Open, where she became the first women's top seed to lose in the opening round at the tournament in the Open Era.

Kerber is hoping to go one better at this year's tournament (Getty)

Simona Halep, a semi-finalist in 2014, is seeded second, with Karolína Plíšková third.

Johanna Konta, who has a career record of 1-5 at Wimbledon, is seeded sixth, the highest for a British woman since Virginia Wade in 1979.

The French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko, who won Junior Wimbledon in 2014, is seeded 13th.

French Open finalists Halep and Ostapenko are among the top seeds (Getty)

In the doubles, Jamie Murray and his partner Bruno Soares have been seeded third.

The main draw will be held on the Friday before the tournament, which starts on Monday 3 July.

Top seeds - Men's singles

1 Andy Murray (GB), 2 Novak Djokoic (Ser), 3 Roger Federer (Swi), 4 Rafael Nadal (Spa), 5 Stan Wawrinka (Swi), 6 Milos Raonic (Can), 7 Marin Cilic (Cro), 8 Dominic Thiem (Aut), 9 Kei Nishikori (Jpn), 10 Alexander Zverev (Ger), 11 Tomas Berdych (Cze), 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra), 13 Grigor Dimitrov (Bul), 14 Lucas Pouille (Fra), 15 Gael Monfils (FRA), 16 Gilles Muller (Lux)

Top seeds - Women's singles

1 Angelique Kerber (Ger), 2 Simona Halep (Rom), 3 Karolina Pliskova (Cze), 4 Elina Svitolina (Ukr), 5 Caroline Wozniacki (Den), 6 Johanna Konta (GB), 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus), 8 Dominika Cibulkova (Svk), 9 Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol), 10 Venus Williams (US), 11 Petra Kvitova (Cze), 12 Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) 13 Jelena Ostapenko (Lat), 14 Garbine Muguruza (Spa), 15 Elena Vesnina (Rus), 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus)