Lendl and Graf Seeded No. 1 for Wimbledon

Ivan Lendl and Steffi Graf were seeded No. 1 today for next week’s Wimbledon tennis championships, as Americans dominated both men’s and women’s rankings.

Lendl, a Czechoslovak living in Greenwich, Conn., has won every Grand Slam tournament except Wimbledon. Graf, from West Germany, won her first Wimbledon last year en route to the Grand Slam sweep.

Defending men’s champion Stefan Edberg of Sweden, the French Open runner-up, was seeded second in the men’s draw, just ahead of two-time champion Boris Becker of West Germany.

U.S. players took seven of the 16 seeds in both singles fields for the grass-court Grand Slam tournament scheduled to run from next Monday through July 9, headed by fifth-seeded John McEnroe among the men and second-seeded Martina Navratilova among the women.

McEnroe is going for his fourth Wimbledon singles title, and Navratilova is aiming for a record ninth women’s crown.

Michael Chang, who became the first American man to win the French Open in 34 years earlier this month, was seeded ninth, one spot after U.S. veteran Tim Mayotte.

Chang, a 17-year-old from Placentia, was unseeded at Wimbledon last year and started the French Open as the 15th seed. He beat Edberg in five sets for the title.

Other American men seeds were two-time champion Jimmy Connors, No. 10; Brad Gilbert, No. 11; 1985 runner-up Kevin Curren, No. 12, and Aaron Krickstein, No. 13.

In addition to Navratilova, U.S. women seeds were three-time champion Chris Evert, No. 4; Zina Garrison, No. 5; Pam Shriver, No. 8; Mary Joe Fernandez, No. 12; Lori McNeil, No. 15, and Susan Sloane, No. 16.