Federer handed kind draw at Australian Open

World number one Roger Federer will begin the defence of his Australian Open title against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro after the draw for next week's tournament was made at Melbourne Park yesterday.

The top-seeded Swiss faces a potential showdown with eighth seed and four-times champion Andre Agassi in the quarter-finals and could face a semi-final against Russian Marat Safin, the player he beat in last year's final.

Federer, a hot favourite having won three of the four grand slam titles in 2004, has beaten Santoro in five of their seven previous encounters.

Second seed Andy Roddick will begin his campaign for a second grand slam crown against Irakli Labadze of Georgia.

Third seed Lleyton Hewitt was drawn in Roddick's half and is scheduled to meet the American in the semi-finals.

Hewitt, who is hoping to become the first Australian man to win the event since Mark Edmondson in 1976, will be thankful for being drawn in the opposite half to Federer, who beat him in the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year.

Safin, seeded four, opens his campaign against a qualifier, with 16th seed Tommy Haas, the player he beat in the semi-finals in 2002, a possible fourth-round opponent.

Agassi, a doubtful starter after injuring his hip in the warm-up event at Kooyong on Thursday, also begins against a qualifier.

Other potentially intriguing matches include a fourth-round encounter between Tim Henman and Guillermo Canas.

In the women's event, world number one and former champion Lindsay Davenport will meet former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez of Spain in the first round.

The top-seeded American, who withdrew from the Sydney International on Thursday with bronchitis, could face either former champion Venus Williams, seeded eighth, or Australian Alicia Molik, the 10th seed, in the quarter-finals.

Second seed Amelie Mauresmo of France, runner-up in 1999, could clash with former world number one Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova could meet in the last eight. Both players face qualifiers in round one.

The first grand slam event of the year begins on Monday.

¤ Roger Federer showed he was hitting top form at the right time as he demolished Tim Henman 6-4 6-2 at the Kooyong Classic yesterday to set up a mouthwatering final with Andy Roddick.