Federer handed easy draw

World No.1 Roger Federer will begin the defence of his Australian Open title against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro after the draw for next week8217;s tournament was made at Melbourne Park on Friday.

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.

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 Roddick8217;s half and is scheduled to meet the American in the semi-finals.

Other potentially intriguing matches include a fourth-round encounter between seventh seed Tim Henman of Britain and Guillermo Canas, the 12th seed.