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Hewitt to face big serves

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt may have to survive an early barrage of the biggest serves in tennis if he is to retain his Wimbledon title.

The Australian baseliner opens his defence against a qualifier and, barring upsets, will next meet former champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands.

Serena Williams of the US, the world No.1 and defending champion, and her sister Venus were kept out of the same half of the women's draw on Tuesday and could meet in a repeat of last year's final.

World No.1 Andre Agassi, the number two seed, plays British wild card Jamie Delgado in the first round and has Russian powerhouse Marat Safin in his quarter.

Tenth-seeded Briton Tim Henman faces Spanish claycourt specialist Alex Corretja in the first round and is in the same quarter as Argentina's David Nalbandian, last year's runner-up, and Dutchman Martin Verkerk, beaten finalist at the 2003 French Open.

Roland Garros champion and Wimbledon third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero is also in Henman's section of the draw.

Hewitt could not have been handed a tougher draw at the grasscourt grand slam as the Australian baseliner is likely to run into a succession of big-servers on the London turf. Providing he finds a way past 1996 champion Krajicek, he could well meet Taylor Dent -- possessor of the world's second-fastest serve -- in the third round.

Fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick, the game's fastest server who shares a 239.8km per hour top speed with Greg Rusedski, was also drawn in Hewitt's quarter and the pair could meet in the last eight.

Agassi's draw seems tame by comparison. The 1992 Wimbledon champion, winner of eight grand slam titles, should have few problems getting past the 456th-ranked Delgado.
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