Federer can expect tough start

If the top seed, who is unbeaten in his last 41 matches on grass, comes through that encounter, he could come up against Britain8217;s Tim Henman, who remains, on his day, one of the best grass court players in the world.

For that match-up to take place, Henman, unseeded here for the first time in a decade, must first overcome Sweden8217;s Robin Soderling.

Second seed Rafael Nadal will not lose any sleep over the prospect of his first round encounter with unheralded Briton Alex Bogdanovic.

Provided there are no early shocks, the French Open champion could come up against Andre Agassi in the third round. The American veteran begins what many expect to be his last Wimbledon against Boris Pashanski.

The draw left open the possibility of a third consecutive final between Federer and American Andy Roddick, who has been drawn in the bottom half with Nadal after being only seeded third for this year8217;s tournament.

Roddick, hammered by Federer in both his final appearances at the All England Club, starts off against Serbia8217;s Janko Tipsarevic.

Hewitt, the sixth seed and the last man to win the title before Federer began his run in 2003, starts his campaign against Filippo Volandri of Italy in the bottom half of the draw. Among the more intriguing first round encounters is a meeting between Britain8217;s Greg Rusedski and former US and Australian Open winner Marat Safin and the all-Swedish clash between Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman.

In the women8217;s draw, defending champion Venus Williams, who is only seeded sixth because of her injury-affected slide down the rankings, could face the 2004 champion Maria Sharapova at the quarter-final stage.

Both Venus Williams and Sharapova are in the top half of the draw, along with world number one Amelie Mauresmo, who starts off against Croatian qualifier Ivana Abramovic.

If Mauresmo can finally make her power game work on the Wimbledon lawns, she is likely to face either Williams or Sharapova in the semi-finals.

In the lower half, Belgian rivals Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters will meet at that stage if they perform in line with their status as, respectively, 3rd and 2nd seeds.

Henin-Hardenne, seeking to win the only grand slam title to have eluded her, begins against China8217;s Yuan Meng and could come up against former champion Martina Hingis at the quarter-final stage.

Hingis, seeded 12th, is playing here for the first time since 2001 after making an unexpectedly successful comeback to the sport she briefly dominated as a teenager.

Paes signs up as commentator

NEW DELHI: India8217;s Davis Cup captain Leander Paes along with former doubles champion Todd Woodbridge, will for the first time be a part of BBC Radio Five Live8217;s all-star team as the station heads for this year8217;s Wimbledon.

Apart from Paes, the team on BBC Radio includes presenters Michael Stich, Pat Cash, Simon Mayo and Clare Balding along with Annabel Croft, Frew McMillan, Tracy Austin, Judy Murray. BBC8217;s tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend will lead the commentary team with Iain Carter and Tony Adamson. Paes had earlier donned the responsibility of a commentator at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and Chennai Open 2006. ENS