LONDON, June 17: Lleyton Hewitt will have to navigate his way through a minefield of big servers if he is to retain his Wimbledon crown.

The Australian, the top seed despite losing his world number one ranking to Andre Agassi last week, begins the defence of his title with a first round match against a qualifier.

Hewitt’s quarter of the draw also contains Taylor Dent, Belarussian Max Mirnyi, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan and Andy Roddick, the player he is seeded to meet in the last eight.

Hewitt was philosophical about a draw he admitted was one of the toughest he had been handed in a Grand Slam.

“A lot depends on how it pans out. A lot of Grand Slam draws can look tough at the beginning and then open up.”

Despite an early exit from last week’s Queen’s tournament, which he had won for the previous three years, Hewitt is confident he is running into form at the right time.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as I’d like last week but since then in practice I feel like I’ve stepped it up a notch or two.

“I’m where I want to be and hopefully I can just keep it going until Monday.”

The Australian is anticipating some shivers down his spine when he walks out on centre court as defending champion.

“Its going to be a special momement,” he said. “Winning that final last year was something I’d dreamed about it and that’s what comes with it. Its part of the tradition of winning the tournament here.”

Roddick, the fifth seed, established himself as one of the pre-tournament favourites by beating Agassi on his way to winning at the biggest pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queen’s Club on Sunday.

Roddick begins his campaign against Italy’s Davide Sanguinetti, while Srichaphan, who knocked Agassi out last year and is seeded 12th, has a tough opening match against Dominik Hrbaty.

The Asian number one has lost both his previous encounters with the experienced Slovakian.

In contrast to Hewitt, the draw was relatively kind to Agassi, who begins his quest to add to his 1992 title with an opening match against British wildcard Jamie Delgado, ranked 456th in the world.

A projected quarterfinal against Xavier Malisse, a semifinalist here last year, looks like giving Agassi his first real test. Malisse will not relish the prospect of a likely second round meeting with Australia’s Mark Philippoussis.

Home favourite Tim Henman, struggling to recover his best form following shoulder surgery earlier this year, faces Spanish claycourt specialist Alex Corretja in his opening match.

In theory, the draw is relatively benign for Henman but he will be wary of the prospect of facing Dutchman Martin Verkerk in the third round. Verkerk was a surprise finalist at the French Open two weeks ago and his power game looks ideally suited to grass.

If Henman can survive to the second week he is likely to come up against France’s Sebastien Grosjean, who beat the British number one at Queen’s, in the last eight.

Last year’s surprise runner-up, the Argentinian David Nalbandian kicks off against Vladimir Voltchkov and could find himself meeting experienced grasscourt specialist Wayne Ferreira in the third round.

Ferreira has a tough first round clash with Karol Kucera of Slovakia.

The women’s draw threw up the possibility of another all-Williams final after Serena and Venus were drawn in different halves.

Serena begins her defence against compatriot Jill Craybas and should proceed untroubled to a quarter-final appointment with Jennifer Capriati.

Also in the top half of the draw is Justine Henin-Hardenne, who beat Serena in an ill-tempered French Open final earlier this month.

Two-time champion Venus Williams opens against a qualifier and is lined up for a quarterfinal meeting with fellow American Lindsay Davenport.

Among the first round clashes in the women’s singles is an all-Asian meeting of Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn and Japan’s Akiko Morigami.

Maria Sharapova, the glamorous Russian teenager, takes on American Ashley Harkleroad in a meeting of two of the rising stars of the women’s game.—AFP