atching Federer slam haul a 'dream' says Nadal

Rafael Nadal played down his chances of matching Roger Federer's Grand Slam haul here Sunday, saying the likelihood of reaching his rival's record of 16 titles remained "a dream."
After adding four more Grand Slam titles in the past year the 25 year old Spanish world number one now has 10 to his name and will be targeting an 11th at Wimbledon over the next fortnight.
Victory at the All England Club would see Nadal move alongside Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver in the all time standings, one behind Roy Emerson on 12, three behind Pete Sampras (14) and five behind Federer. But Nadal dismissed suggestions that Federer's record was in his sights here Sunday, saying he was "very far" from the Swiss master's benchmark. "I am not close to the 16 of Roger," Nadal said. "Sixteen is a lot.
Reigning champion Nadal, who opens the defence of his title with a first round match against American Michael Russell on Centre Court here Monday enjoyed a stellar 2010, scooping the French, Wimbledon and US Open crowns. But although Nadal defended his French crown at Roland Garros earlier this month, he doubted whether he would be able to emulate his feats of last season.
"Last year was in my opinion very impossible to repeat three Grand Slams in a row," Nadal said. "I am very happy about what's going on this season. But I don't think I will repeat what I did last year for sure."
Virtually invincible on the red clay of Roland Garros, Nadal has slowly but surely parked his tanks on the lawns of Wimbledon in recent years, reaching four of the last five finals. The only year he missed was 2009, when a recurrence of a knee injury ruled him out of the tournament.

Defending champ Serena seeded No. 8 at Wimbledon

Defending champion Serena Williams was bumped up to No. 8 in the seedings  18 places above her world ranking - for Wimbledon on Wednesday, a position that will allow her to avoid playing the highest-ranked players until at least the quarterfinals.
Williams won her 13th Grand Slam title last year at the All England Club, but then stepped on broken glass, eventually leading to blood clots on her lungs, and was out of action for nearly a year. She returned to competitive tennis on Tuesday at Eastbourne, coming back from a set down to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Wimbledon starts Monday.
The draw is scheduled for Friday. On the men's side, defending champion Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 1, followed by Novak Djokovic at No. 2, Roger Federer at No. 3 and Andy Murray at No. 4  in line with their rankings. Federer and Nadal have combined for the past eight titles at the All England Club.
For Federer, it's the first time he's been outside the top two seedings at Wimbledon since 2003, the year he won the first of five straight titles at the grass court Grand Slam. Since Serena's injury, she has dropped to No. 26 in the WTA rankings. If Wimbledon organizers had seeded her according to her ranking, the four-time Wimbledon champion could have come up against a top player in the third round.
Her sister Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, was seeded No. 24. She has dropped to 33rd in the rankings since missing most of this season with a hip injury. She also returned to action this week in Eastbourne.
"The seeding order follows the WTA ranking list, except where in the opinion of the committee, a change is necessary to produce a balanced draw," Wimbledon organizers said.
"The only changes this year are Serena Williams and Venus Williams moving to 8 and 24, respectively. This reflects the balance between their proven records and also their lack of competitive play in the past 12 months." The sisters have combined to win nine of the last 11 titles at the All England Club.
At the top of the women's seeding list is top ranked Caroline Wozniacki. She is followed by Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters at No. 2, Vera Zvonareva at No. 3 and French Open champion Li Na at No. 4.