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Henman handed Wimbledon test
England, June 17: Tim Henman will play Spaniard Alex Corretja in the first round at Wimbledon. The British number one, who is seeded 10 for the tournament, has reached the semi-finals on four of his last five visits to SW19 but has suffered with a shoulder injury since the end of last year.
England, June 17: Tim Henman will play Spaniard Alex Corretja in the first round at Wimbledon.
The British number one, who is seeded 10 for the tournament, has reached the semi-finals on four of his last five visits to SW19 but has suffered with a shoulder injury since the end of last year.
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The experienced Corretja is a former top five player who is currently ranked only eight places below Henman, but the Spaniard is a claycourt specialist and has not played at Wimbledon since 1998.
Henman's quarter of the draw contains last year's runner-up David Nalbandian and big-serving Dutchman Martin Verkerk, who was the runner-up at the French Open, but could have been worse.
Reigning champion Lleyton Hewitt will start the defence of his title against a qualifier, but is then likely to face a number of big servers.
In the second round he could meet former champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, with either Taylor Dent or Max Mirnyi up next.
And Hewitt could face Britain's Greg Rusedski in the last eight.
Rusedski, who suffered with injury over the last year, will meet Alexander Waske of Germany in the first round. The British number two would then probably face fifth seed Andy Roddick in the second round. Roddick has emerged as one of the favourites for the tournament after beating Rusedski en route to winning at Queen's last week. But Rusedski will take confidence from beating the American at Wimbledon last year.
British wild card Jamie Delgado has the unenviable task of facing world number one and second seed Andre Agassi. The pair met at Wimbledon two years ago when the American prevailed in straight sets. A tough prospect also awaits British number three Arvind Parmar, who was drawn against Dutch eighth seed Sjeng Schalken.
In the women's draw top seed and reigning champion Serena Williams faces fellow American Jill Craybas, ranked 66th in the world. Williams has been drawn in the opposite half of the draw as sister Venus so a repeat of last year's final between the two is a possibility.
Second seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium will tackle Rossana Neffa-de Los Rios Paraguay, 110th in the world. Britain's Elena Baltacha, who beat the seeded Amanda Coetzer to reach the third round last year, faces 2000 semi-finalist Jelena Dokic.
Bureau Report
Rusedski, who suffered with injury over the last year, will meet Alexander Waske of Germany in the first round. The British number two would then probably face fifth seed Andy Roddick in the second round. Roddick has emerged as one of the favourites for the tournament after beating Rusedski en route to winning at Queen's last week. But Rusedski will take confidence from beating the American at Wimbledon last year.
British wild card Jamie Delgado has the unenviable task of facing world number one and second seed Andre Agassi. The pair met at Wimbledon two years ago when the American prevailed in straight sets. A tough prospect also awaits British number three Arvind Parmar, who was drawn against Dutch eighth seed Sjeng Schalken.
In the women's draw top seed and reigning champion Serena Williams faces fellow American Jill Craybas, ranked 66th in the world. Williams has been drawn in the opposite half of the draw as sister Venus so a repeat of last year's final between the two is a possibility.
Second seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium will tackle Rossana Neffa-de Los Rios Paraguay, 110th in the world. Britain's Elena Baltacha, who beat the seeded Amanda Coetzer to reach the third round last year, faces 2000 semi-finalist Jelena Dokic.
Bureau Report