'No respect': The Roger Federer move that's left Rafael Nadal seething

Rafael Nadal has accused Wimbledon of disrespecting players who achieve strong results on surfaces other than grass.

Every other tournament in the world uses rankings to place seeds, but the All England Club applies a special formula to the top 32 players to reward grass-court victories over the past two years.

The calculations dropped Nadal from second to third, with Roger Federer leaping from third to second.

Last year's Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson has jumped from eighth to fourth despite injuries restricting the South African to just six matches in the last five months.

While Federer said seeding mattered little, Nadal declared Wimbledon are behind the times.

"I think it's the usual thing, Wimbledon is the only tournament of the year that they do what they want in that sense," the French Open champion told Spanish media.

Nadal took the demotion in his stride with one step but with the next his true feelings were clear.

"Whatever it is, if I'm two or three, I'll have to play at my best," he said.

"I will accept to be three if they see it that way and I will fight to try to win.

"The only thing that does not seem right about this story is that it is only Wimbledon that does it.

"It has not only happened to my seeding, it has happened to other players.

"They do not respect the status that some players have earned throughout the season."

The source of Nadal’s disappointment is not hard to place.

He took out a comfortable straight-sets win over Federer at the French Open less than three weeks ago.

As the third seed at Wimbledon, the Spaniard could now meet his great rival or world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

But while Federer could now luck out if Anderson is placed on his side of the draw, he is unfazed by the unknown of the two-week tournament.

"It might make no difference if Rafa is in my section," he said.

“I guess you could say I avoid Novak in the semis. But at the end of the day that is so far away.

"What it helps me (to do) is plan earlier. That’s it."

The women's seeds stayed true to the WTA rankings, ensuring Australia's Ashleigh Barty will take the No.1 seed into Wimbledon.