seeded player
Pre-tournament ranked athlete
A seeded player is one ranked and positioned in a tournament bracket to prevent top competitors from meeting in early rounds.
Seeds are distributed so the highest-ranked players face lower-ranked opponents first, with potential matchups against fellow seeds delayed until later rounds: The top-seeded player cruised through the first two rounds.
Common in tennis, basketball, and other elimination tournaments.
- rankedAssigned relative position
- tournamentMulti-round competitive event
- grand slamWinning every trick
- knockout stageWin-or-go-home rounds
- bracketSupport or category
draw · favorite · tennis · elimination · first round · wildcard · match · match point · ATP · champion · clay · Wimbledon · upset · early exit · round · court · ace · singles
- competitorscompetitor, contestant, competitors, rivals, opponents
- game participantsgamer, competitor, contestant, opponent, teammate
- cue playerspool shark, shark, world champion, professional
- tennis playersserver, returner, baseliner, volleyer, serve-and-volleyer
- badminton playersworld champion, gold medalist, silver medalist, bronze medalist, qualifier
- participantsparticipant, entrant, respondent, applicant, enrollee
seeded playerqualifier
Word or phrase limiting meaning
wild card · lucky loser · alternate · walk-on · club player
seeded playerunderdog
Presumed loser beforehand
dark horse · unknown · no-name · journeyman · rank outsider
seed, seeded, seeding, seeds, seedless, seedling, seedlings, reseed, reseeded