The term "unseeded" in tennis tournaments refers to players who have not been given a designated seed in the tournament draw. Seeding is based on a player’s ranking and determines their placement in the draw, aiming to ensure that the best players do not compete against each other in the early rounds. Unseeded players can potentially face higher-ranked opponents earlier in the tournament, which increases the difficulty of their path to the later stages. This status can lead to surprises, as unseeded players may outperform expectations and defeat seeded competitors.