World tennis No 1 Roger Federer will begin the pursuit of his second Australian Open title against wildcard Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
The draw was made yesterday and world No 4 and third seed Lleyton Hewitt was placed in the same half as Federer, setting up a potential semifinal showdown
with the Swiss. Hewitt will play Robin Vik of the Czech Republic in the first round.
Hewitt, who was knocked out of the Sydney International by Italy's Andreas Seppi on Thursday, could face a difficult second-round opponent in either rising British talent Andy Murray or Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela.
American Andy Roddick, seeded second, has been drawn against a qualifier and is in the same half as Croatia's Davis Cup winner and world No 9 Ivan Ljubicic.
Ljubicic will meet Australia's Chris Guccione in the first round.
Germany's Tommy Haas, who beat Federer on Wednesday at the invitational Kooyong Classic, is in the same quarter of the draw as the Swiss and will play 14th seed Richard Gasquet of France.
World No 5 David Nalbandian, who beat Federer in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai last year, will meet a qualifier in the first round.
Nalbandian withdrew from the Kooyong tournament due to the effects of a viral infection but expects to be fit for the year's first Grand Slam, which begins on Monday.
Top women's seed Lindsay Davenport will play Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua in the first round and faces a tough path into the quarter-finals after being drawn in the same quarter as Venus Williams and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Former world No 1 Henin-Hardenne is fast emerging as the most dangerous player in the draw after blasting her way to the Sydney International final.
Defending champion and 13th seed Serena Williams will meet Na Li of China and has been drawn in the same quarter as former French and US Open finalist Elena Dementieva and world No 6 Nadia Petrova. Serena is scheduled to meet fourth seed Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.
Sharapova will meet Germany's Sandra Kloesel in the first round.
Former world No 1 Martina Hingis, making a return to tennis after foot and ankle injuries forced her to retire in 2002, has been granted a wildcard and is drawn against 30th seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
World No 2 Kim Clijsters, who suffered a hip muscle injury at the Sydney tournament, has been drawn against South Korea's Cho Yoon-jeong.
- REUTERS
Roger Federer
World tennis No 1 Roger Federer will begin the pursuit of his second Australian Open title against wildcard Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
The draw was made yesterday and world No 4 and third seed Lleyton Hewitt was placed in the same half as Federer, setting up a potential semifinal showdown
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