Wimbledon: Andy Murray third seed behind Djokovic & Nadal

Andy Murray cannot meet Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer until the semi-finals

Defending champion Andy Murray has been seeded third at Wimbledon - a rise of two places from his world ranking of fifth.

Murray, who ended Britain's 77-year wait for a male singles champion last year, has benefited from Wimbledon's unique seedings formula.

It means the Scot cannot meet Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer before the semi-finals.

Djokovic overtakes world number one Nadal as top seed, with Federer fourth.

Wimbledon, which starts on 23 June, is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments not to stick to the world rankings when seeding the men's event, instead using a formula based on grass court form over the past two years.

Murray, 27, reached the Wimbledon final in 2012 and then won the titles at both Queen's Club and the All England Club in 2013.

If Murray reaches the quarter-finals, he can expect to play either Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer or Milos Raonic.

Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka drops from third in the rankings to a seeding of fifth, having lost in the first round at Wimbledon for the last two years.

Speaking at Queen's Club last week, the Australian Open champion said: "Wimbledon, they do what they want. For me it's fine.

"I knew that with my past two years on grass I didn't have any results, so for sure my ranking will drop a little bit for the seedings.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't change much. You have to play well. You have to start the tournament well if you want to go far, and that's simple."

Wawrinka's preparations for Wimbledon have been hampered by illness after he developed a 'high fever' following practice on Monday.

Doctors gave him some medication and advised him to rest. The Swiss number one will not practise before Thursday at the earliest.

Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who was beaten by Grigor Dimitrov in the Queen's final on Sunday, is the biggest beneficiary of Wimbledon's unique seedings formula, moving from 25th on the ATP list to 19th seed at Wimbledon. Dimitrov is seeded 11th.

The women's event adheres to the world rankings, leaving Serena Williams as the top seed ahead of Li Na, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska and French Open champion Maria Sharapova.

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, who won her first grass-court title on Sunday with victory in the Aegon Classic final at Edgbaston, is seeded 11th.

Britain's Heather Watson and Jo Konta have both made the main draw directly, without the need to go through qualifying.

Men's singles top 10 seeds

Novak Djokovic (Ser) [1]

Rafael Nadal (Spa) [2]

Andy Murray (GB) [3]

Roger Federer (Swi) [4]

Stan Wawrinka (Swi) [5]

Tomas Berdych (Cze) [6]

David Ferrer (Spa) [7]

Milos Raonic (Can) [8]

John Isner (US) [9]

Kei Nishikori (Jpn) [10]

Women's singles top 10 seeds

Serena Williams (US) [1]

Li Na (Chn) [2]

Simona Halep (Rom) [3]

Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) [4]

Maria Sharapova (Rus) [5]

Petra Kvitova (Cze) [6]

Jelena Jankovic (Ser) [7]

Victoria Azarenka (Blr) [8]

Angelique Kerber (Ger) [9]

Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) [10]

The full list of seedings can be found on Wimbledon's official website.