Murray is seeded fifth for the Australian Open

 ANDY Murray is seeded fifth for the Australian Open which begins in Melbourne next week.

NUMBER FIVE: Andy Murray is seeded fifth for the Australian Open, one place lower than in 2009 (Getty Images)

The British number one has seen his world ranking drop to five at the start of 2010, having opted against defending his Qatar Open crown in Doha, choosing to contest the Hopman Cup with compatriot Laura Robson in Perth instead..

Murray was seeded fourth at last year's opening grand slam of the season and arrived in Melbourne as red-hot favourite, having secured victory in Doha as well as an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

This time around however, the Scot has opted for low-key preparations and put the finishing touches to his build-up to the Australian Open with a routine 6-1, 6-4 exhibition win over American Sam Querrey at the Kooyong Classic on Thursday.

Meanwhile, world number one Roger Federer is the number one seed while defending champion Rafael Nadal is second and Serbia's Novak Djokovic, champion in 2008 is third.

US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina is fourth.

In the women's draw, defending champion and four-time winner Serena Williams is the number one seed while former world number one and last year's finalist Dinara Safina is seeded second.

French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva and Venus Williams make up the top six seeds.

Belgium's Kim Clijsters, who won last year's US Open in her third competition after more than two years away from the sport, is seeded 15th.

But compatriot and seven-time grand slam winner Justine Henin, who announced her retirement in May 2008, only to make her comeback at the Brisbane International last week is not seeded.