Roddick handed tough early draw
Top seed Roger Federer will begin his bid for a third consecutive Wimbledon title against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu following the draw at the All England Club yesterday. Women's top seed Lindsay Davenport also received a straightforward opening...
Top seed Roger Federer will begin his bid for a third consecutive Wimbledon title against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu following the draw at the All England Club yesterday.
Women's top seed Lindsay Davenport also received a straightforward opening match when the world number one was drawn against Russia's Alina Jidkova.
Champion and second seed Maria Sharapova plays Spain's Nuria Llagostera-Vives.
Federer's main rival for the men's crown, last year's runner-up and second seed Andy Roddick, was drawn against Czech Jiri Vanek.
Roddick is expected to come through that test relatively easily but then could face the tallest man in tennis, Ivo Karlovic, in the second round.
Roddick narrowly beat the 6ft 10ins Croatian 7-6 7-6 in the final of the Queen's warm-up event at the weekend.
Men's third seed and former champion Lleyton Hewitt plays Belgian Christophe Rochus in round one. Hewitt was drawn in the top half of the draw and could meet Federer in the semis.
French Open champion and fourth seed Rafael Nadal faces American Vince Spadea. Nadal's teenage rival Richard Gasquet, beaten at the French Open by the Spaniard, could get his revenge in the third round.
British hope Tim Henman, seeded sixth in the bottom half of the draw, faces Finn Jarkko Nieminen in the opening round. He could meet Roddick in the last eight.
Srichaphan test
The leading contenders for the men's title mostly avoided dangerous floaters in the first round, but fifth seed Marat Safin must get past Paradorn Srichaphan before a possible clash with 2003 runner-up Mark Philippoussis.
The leading women mostly avoided tricky early encounters, although Justine Henin-Hardenne was drawn against heavy-serving Greek Eleni Daniilidou.
Venus Williams was drawn against a qualifier and sister Serena starts against fellow American Angela Haynes.
Third-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, still seeking her first grand slam title, plays Argentine doubles specialist Paola Suarez.
The season's third grand slam runs from Monday to July 3.