LONDON (AFP) - Rafael Nadal was named fifth seed for the Wimbledon tournament on Wednesday, leaving his major title rivals to ponder meeting the 2008 and 2010 title-winning Spaniard as early as the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard, the holder of 12 Grand Slam crowns and fresh from his record-breaking eighth French Open triumph in Paris, was seeded behind compatriot David Ferrer who takes the fourth seeding.

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer take the top three places.

Wimbledon uses recent grass-court performances as well as the world rankings to seed players and Nadal was not promoted after he suffered a stunning second-round defeat to Lukas Rosol at the tournament last year.

Ferrer, meanwhile, was a quarter-finalist last year, having already claimed the title at the s'Hertogenbosch grasscourt event in the Netherlands in the run-up to London.

In the women's singles, world No. 1 Serena Williams, the five-time champion, takes top seeding, followed by Victoria Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, with Maria Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon winner, named the third seed.