Wimbledon doubles number of seeds

Wimbledon will double the number of seeds from 16 to 32 for the 2001 tournament starting this month, the Grand Slam Committee said on Monday.

"The Grand Slam Committee announces its unanimous agreement to increase the number of seeds from 16 to 32 for the men's and women's singles events at all Grand Slams beginning with Wimbledon 2001," a statement said.

The committee said the four Grand Slam tournaments -- the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open -- were committed to following the men's and women's ranking systems to determine the seeds.

Several players have threatened to boycott this year's Wimbledon starting on June 25 because of its seeding system, which gives preference to grass court specialists. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament played on grass.