Lleyton Hewitt in action against Max Mirnyi at the Sydney meet on Friday. Hewitt won 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to enter the final. The Aussie opens vs Arnaud Clement at the Australian Open. (Reuters)

Melbourne: World number one Roger Federer will begin the defence of his Australian Open title against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro after the draw for next week?s tournament was made at Melbourne Park on Friday.

The top-seeded Swiss faces a potential showdown with eighth seed and four-time champion Andre Agassi in the quarter-finals and could face a semi-final against Russian Marat Safin, the player he beat in last year?s final.

Federer, a hot favourite having won three of the four Grand Slam titles in 2004, has beaten Santoro in five of their seven previous encounters.

?It?s a tricky match,? Federer told reporters. ?I played him at the US Open and won quite comfortably then. But you never know, if the rhythm is a bit off, he can keep you guessing and make it difficult.

?The most important thing, though, is to get used to playing five-set matches and winning them.?

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 Roddick?s half and is scheduled to meet the American in the semi-finals.

Hewitt, who is hoping to become the first Australian man to win the event since Mark Edmondson in 1976, will be thankful for being drawn in the opposite half to Federer, who beat him in the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year.

The third seed, who has never been beyond round four at Melbourne Park in eight attempts, will meet former Australian Open runner-up Arnaud Clement in round one, having defeated the Frenchman in Adelaide and Sydney in the past two weeks.

Safin, seeded four, opens his campaign against a qualifier, with 16th seed Tommy Haas, the player he beat in the semi-finals in 2002, a possible fourth-round opponent.

Agassi, a doubtful starter after injuring his hip in the warm-up event at Kooyong on Thursday, also begins against a qualifier.

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

Argentine Canas came from two sets down to beat Henman at the same stage last year.

In the women?s event, world number one and former champion Lindsay Davenport will meet former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez of Spain in the first round.

The top-seeded American, who withdrew from the Sydney International on Thursday with bronchitis, could face either former champion Venus Williams, seeded eighth, or Australian Alicia Molik, the 10th seed, in the quarter finals.

Second seed Amelie Mauresmo could clash with former world number one Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

Third seed Anastasia Myskina and sixth seed Elena Dementieva are scheduled to meet in an all-Russian quarter final, in what would be a repeat of last year?s French Open final, a match won by Myskina.

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova could meet in the last eight in another all-Russian clash. Both face qualifiers in Round I.

Safin confident

Twelve months ago, Marat Safin arrived at the Open with his confidence at an all-time low and his world ranking down at 86. So his rivals were stunned when he knocked out Roddick and Agassi on his way to the final.

Now number four in the world, Safin is one of those fancied to wrest the title from Federer. Safin endured a mid-season slump last year but fought back to end 2004 with back-to-back Masters Series titles in Madrid and Paris. Not even defeats in his three matches at the Hopman Cup in Perth could dampen his enthusiasm for his return to Melbourne Park. ?It?s normal, I?ve just started my year,? Safin said of the losses. ?It?s not possible to play at the same level (now), as I had just finished my year. At the end of last year I was playing some of my best tennis. I was probably in my best shape ever, but it takes time to get that back again.?

Safin looked rusty in Perth, having arrived only on the eve of Russia?s first match after staying in Moscow to accept an award from the Russian government. (Reuters)