TENNIS:World number one Roger Federer will begin the pursuit of his second Australian Open title against wildcard Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan after the draw was made yesterday.
World number four and third-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt was placed in the same half of the draw as Federer, setting up a potential semi-final showdown with the Swiss, and will play the Czech Republic's Robin Vik in the first round.
The top women's seed, Lindsay Davenport, will face Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua in the first round and has been drawn in the same half as Venus Williams and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Reigning champion and 13th seed Serena Williams will meet Li Na of China.
The former world number one Martina Hingis has been granted a wildcard and has been drawn against the 30th seed, Vera Zvonareva, of Russia.
GAELIC GAMES:Three second-half goals by Paraic Amond helped Carlow Schools dump St Peter's College out of the Leinster College's A senior football championship, 3-7 to 2-4 at Wexford, yesterday.
Scorers - Carlow Schools: P Amond 3-3, D Lowry, M Corcoran 0-2 each. St Peter's College: J Kelly 1-2, L Creane 1-0, E Doyle 0-2.
RALLYING:Luc Alphand closed in on victory in the Dakar Rally yesterday, but the Frenchman's win on stage 13 was overshadowed by the death of a young spectator - hit by a vehicle while crossing the track.
It is the second tragedy of the race after Australian motorcyclist Andy Caldecott died in a crash during the ninth stage.
With two days remaining, Alphand extended his overall lead from Giniel De Villiers to 22 minutes 13 seconds after winning the Labe to Tambacounda stage, which starts in Guinea and ends in Senegal.
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