Australian Open 2016: Bernard Tomic secures No. 16 seed

For the first time in his career, Australia’s Bernard Tomic has secured a top-20 seeding in a grand slam tournament. Tomic is the No. 16 seed at the Australian Open 2016 following his semifinal finish at the 2016 Brisbane International.

Tomic is currently playing at the 2016 Apia International Sydney. He will play Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili for a place in the semifinals at Ken Rosewall Arena today at 10:30 a.m. local time.

The 23-year-old also moved up the world rankings to World No. 17 after his run to the final four of the Brisbane tournament. Australia has not had a player inside the top 10 of the world rankings since June 2006 when Lleyton Hewitt was ranked ninth. Hewitt is playing for his final tournament before retirement at the Australian Open 2016 where he was awarded one of the five Aussie wildcards alongside James Duckworth, Matthew Ebden, Omar Jasika, and Jordan Thompson.

Meanwhile, Canberra native Nick Kyrgios will be No. 29 seed in the men’s draw. In the women’s draw, Australia’s top-ranked female tennis player Samantha Stosur will be seeded No. 25. Aussies Kimberly Birrell, Priscilla Hon, Maddison Inglis, Tammi Patterson, and Storm Sanders will be the wild cards in the women’s singles event.

Five-time champion Novak Djokovic and six-time champion Serena Williams were installed as the top seeds in Melbourne. The main draw ceremony will take place today at 10:15 a.m. ahead of the tournament, which kicks off on Jan. 18.

Top 20 Seeds Men’s Singles

1. Novak Djokovic

2. Andy Murray

3. Roger Federer

4. Stan Wawrinka

5. Rafael Nadal

6. Tomas Berdych

7. Kei Nishikori

8. David Ferrer

9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

10. John Isner

11. Kevin Anderson