WIMBLEDON, England, July 3 — Wimbledon officials are famous for ignoring the world rankings when they award the seeds for the tournament, preferring to rank players according to their assessment of how they might fare on the All England club grass.

Often, they put the policy to good use — witness the fact that Goran Ivanisevic, who will play for the Wimbledon title Sunday afternoon, received a seed in the men's draw this year despite his No. 25 world ranking.

Sometimes, though, they don't. In a surprising snub, Wimbledon officials failed to seed the mixed doubles tandem of Venus Williams and Justin Gimelstob in this year's draw — even though the twosome won the Australian Open and the French Open this year.

The result? Williams-Gimelstob found themselves with a draw in which they had to face both the defending champions — Cyril Suk and Helena Sukova — and the top seeds — Leander Paes and Larisa Neiland — to reach the semifinals.

The Americans' reaction? They decided to make a statement.

Williams and Gimelstob humiliated Paes and Neiland on Court 1 today, wiping out the top seeds in a 6-3, 6-4, rout to move into the semifinals. That victory comes three days after Williams and Gimelstob weathered their first-round matchup with siblings Suk and Sukova by bouncing the two-time champions out of the field.

In addition, Venus isn't the only Williams sister making a statement in mixed doubles.

After pulling out of a singles match with an injured leg — and dropping out of the women's doubles draw, which she was supposed to play with her sister — Serena Williams decided to go ahead and play mixed doubles with partner Max Mirnyi. She, too, advanced to the semifinals by combining with Mirnyi for a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Sandon Stolle and Kristine Kunce today.

Will there be a Williams-Williams meeting at Wimbledon after all? Stay tuned. The sisters are on opposite sides of the bracket and need one more victory apiece before they get a Centre Court showdown.

No Ties Allowed
Despite finishing his match today aching and sore, Ivanisevic said he was glad that Wimbledon does not allow for a tiebreaker in the fifth set.

"It may be fun for the fans," Ivanisevic said of the tiebreaker, "but not for the players."

His opponent, Richard Krajicek agreed — to an extent.

Krajicek likes that fifth-set tiebreakers are allowed at the U.S. Open — the only Grand Slam to use the procedure — because, he said, "it is so hot there," but he conceded that the Wimbledon system was more democratic.

"I think the better players win this way," the Dutchman said.