Hewitt faces an early test

TENNIS/Wimbledon Draw: Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Tim Henman have emerged big winners from the men's draw for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, but top seed Lleyton Hewitt has not fared so well.

Australian world number one Hewitt, who beat Henman to lift his third Queen's final on Sunday, faces a tricky start to his bid for his first Wimbledon crown against accomplished serve and volleyer Jonas Bjorkman.

Although Hewitt holds a 4-0 record against the Swede, three meetings have been very tight, and they have never met on grass.

Hewitt, Henman and Switzerland's Roger Federer are all in the top half of the draw, but although the trio are among the favourites it is notable that there are no former champions or finalists in this half of the draw.

Seven-time champion Sampras; 1992 champion Agassi and 1996 champion Richard Krajicek, making his return to the All-England Club after 18 months out of tennis with an elbow injury, all line up in the bottom half of the draw.

Both Henman and Greg Rusedski, the leading British contenders, face qualifiers in the first round. Henman will face another in the second round while Sampras meets British number three Martin Lee.

The draw represents a glorious opportunity to progress for Henman, who lost an epic battle with eventual champion Goran Ivanisevic in last year's semi-final.

Rusedski, ranked 38th in the world but seeded at 24, will also play a qualifier in the first round. His first real test is likely to be in the third round, against American 11th seed Andy Roddick.

The women's draw has some interesting matches in store with top seed Venus Williams beginning her title defence against British wildcard Jane O'Donoghue.

The American finds herself in the stronger half of the draw, with South African Amanda Coetzer, Belgian duo Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, American Monica Seles and Elena Dementieva of Russia all seeded to play her en route to the final.

Should Venus make it through she should set up a second straight Grand Slam final with her sister Serena, who won their previous meeting at the French Open earlier this month.

Serena will possibly have to play Jennifer Capriati - who she lost to in the quarter-finals last year - in the semi-finals.