Australian and French Open champion Jennifer Capriati of the United States was seeded fourth among the women as Wimbledon became the first Grand Slam event to seed 32 players instead of the traditional 16.

Sampras, who has won a record 13 Grand Slam events, seeks a record eighth title at the All England Club. He will also try to become just the second man in the open era and fourth overall to win five straight Wimbledon singles trophies.

Swedish great Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat from 1976-1980.

Hingis, who won her lone Wimbledon title in 1997, will attempt to win her first Grand Slam women's singles title since the 1999 Australian Open. The Swiss star reached the finals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of the French Open this year.

The 32 seeds were determined by the ATP Entry System Position (ESP) for the men and the WTA Tour rankings for the women. Once that list of players was established, then the seedings were decided by the players' success on the tournament's surface.

The changes represent a response to player criticism, specifically at Wimbledon. The grasscourt tournament regularly takes into account players ability on the surface rather than the world rankings.

Sampras, for example, is just fifth in the current rankings.

Spanish claycourt specialist Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is ranked fourth on the current ATP Tour list, is seeded eighth. He has been one of a number of players critical of the Wimbledon seeding process in the past.

Fellow American Andre Agassi, who won the grasscourt event in 1992, is second in the men's draw. Last year's Wimbledon finalist, Patrick Rafter of Australia, is third.

Russian Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia round out the top five.

Other than Hingis, all of the top five women's seeds are from the United States

Defending champion Venus Williams is seeded second and is followed by Lindsay Davenport. Serena Williams, a semifinalist a year ago, is seeded fifth.

Both French Open men's finalists -- World No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten and Albert Corretja of Spain -- have withdrawn from Wimbledon with leg injuries.

In addition, Australian Mark Phillippousis is sidelined due to a knee injury and 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek of The Netherlands is recovering from elbow surgery. Chilean Marcelo Rios has pulled out for personal reasons.

On the women's side, American Monica Seles is out due to a nagging foot injury and Anna Kournikova of Russia remains hobbled by a stress fracture in her left foot which has kept her out of action since February. Mary Pierce of France also has withdrawn due to a back injury.