Grand Slams to stick with 32 seeds in 2019

The four Grand Slam tournaments will continue to use 32 seeds in singles draws in 2019.

The Grand Slam Board had intended to cut in half the number of seeds to 16 from next year, but decided against the move at a meeting during the US Open in New York.

The Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open have used 32 seeds since June 2001 to, in theory, avoid a spate of early-round upsets at the four biggest events of the year.

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Under the current system, none of the 32 seeds at the Slams can possibly run into a higher-ranked rival until at least the third round.

With 16 seeds, the world No.1 could conceivably play the world No.17 in the first round.

As we reported after Wimbledon, the Grand Slam tournaments have backed off their plan to change to 16 seeds in 2019. They will all remain at 32 seeds: this year's run of 1st week upsets certainly played a role pic.twitter.com/RyGGOaoLg7

— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) September 13, 2018

Had only the top 16 players been seeded at the US Open, world No.1 Simona Halep could have been drawn against eventual champion, and 20th seed, Naomi Osaka in the first round.

“Following a full year of Grand Slam match analysis and feedback from all other constituencies, especially players and broadcast partners, the Grand Slam tournaments have decided there is no compelling reason to revert to 16 seeds,” read a statement from the Grand Slam board.