Rafael Nadal seeded No10 for Wimbledon, with Andy Murray No3

Rafael Nadal has tumbled eight places in the Wimbledon seedings to No10 and that exposes the two-times champion to the possibility of playing a top-eight player in the quarter-finals.

It is a perilous situation for the 29-year-old Spaniard, who went out in the fourth round last year as the second seed when Nick Kyrgios announced his arrival with a stunning performance.

Nadal is having one of his toughest seasons after recovering from a wrist injury and appendicitis late last year and enduring five defeats on his favoured European clay this summer, the most painful his exit at the French Open in the quarter-finals against the world No1 Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic lost in the final at Roland Garros, which his conqueror there, Stan Wawrinka, thinks will make him more dangerous at Wimbledon.

Andy Murray holds his world ranking of No3 in the seedings, behind Djokovic and Roger Federer, who lost to the Serb in a compelling 2014 final.

Depending on Friday’s draw and first-week results, Murray could play either of the injured contenders Kei Nishikori or Milos Raonic, the struggling Tomas Berdych or the ever-present David Ferrer in the quarters. He would probably meet either Djokovic or Federer in the semi-finals.

When Murray won the title in 2013, seeded No2, he looked to have been handed a dreadful draw – until Federer and Nadal were shock early losers.

Murray lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals last year but was readjusting to both the loss in March of his coach Ivan Lendl, as well as turmoil in his camp, as his long-time friend Dani Vallverdu and conditioner Jez Green complained about not being consulted over the appointment of Amélie Mauresmo as Lendl’s successor.

They left the Murray camp soon afterwards, Vallverdu joining Tomas Berdych, who lost to Murray in a tense quarter-final at the Australian Open and is seeded sixth here.

Wawrinka, who lost in his second match at Queen’s last week, is seeded No4 for the first time, in line with his ranking after winning the French Open; Nishikori, who had to retire during a match at Halle last week, is at No5; Raonic, nursing an injured foot, is at No7; and Ferrer is at No8, with not much form to show for it.

It is Nadal’s slide to No10 that creates the most interest. If he can rediscover some form, after another shock early exit at Queen’s, he could cause mayhem in the draw.

Another player dealing with a setback is the Australian Bernard Tomic, who has been seeded outside the crucial top 24 at No27, just below his world ranking, which means he could face one of the top eight seeds in the third round.

The same possibility awaits his compatriot, the world No30 Kyrgios, who withdrew from the Nottingham tournament through illness and is guarding an elbow injury, but still leapfrogs Tomic for Wimbledon to No26.

Tomic and Kyrgios both made the quarter-finals last year after upset wins – the first teenagers to get that far since Boris Becker in 1986.

There were no real surprises in the women’s draw, with the world No1 Serena Williams top of the pile again, ahead of the defending champion Petra Kvitova. Eugenie Bouchard, who has had a miserable season and retired with an abdominal injury during her match against Belinda Bencic at Eastbourne on Wednesday, drops to No12.

Maria Sharapova, hit by illness in Paris and not seen at Queen’s in support of Dimitrov, is seeded at No4, and could be the semi-final roadblock for either Williams or Kvitova.

Top seeds – men

1 Novak Djokovic (Srb)

2 Roger Federer (Swit)

3 Andy Murray (GB)

4 Stan Wawrinka (Swit)

5 Kei Nishikori (Jpn)

6 Tomas Berdych (Cz)

7 Milos Raonic (Can)

8 David Ferrer (Sp)

9 Marin Cilic (Cro)

10 Rafael Nadal (Sp)

11 Grigor Dimitrov (Bul)

12 Gilles Simon (Fr)

13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fr)

14 Kevin Anderson (SA)

15 Feliciano López (Sp)

16 David Goffin (Bel)

Top seeds – women

1 Serena Williams (US)

2 Petra Kvitova (Cz)

3 Simona Halep (Rom)

4 Maria Sharapova (Rus)

5 Caroline Wozniacki (Den)

6 Lucie Safarova (Cz)

7 Ana Ivanovic (Srb)

8 Ekaterina Makarova (Rus)

9 Carla Suárez Navarro (SP)

10 Angelique Kerber (Ger)

11 Karolina Pliskova (Cz)

12 Eugenie Bouchard (Can)

13 Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol)

14 Andrea Petkovic (Ger)

15 Timea Bacsinszky (Swit)

16 Venus Williams (US)