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 on Thursday. Women’s top seed Lindsay Davenport also received a straight forward 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 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 metres) 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 Christopher Rochus in round one. Hewitt came out in the top half of the draw and could meet Marat Safin in the quarter-finals and Federer in the semis.
