World number one Roger Federer [ Images ] will begin the defence of his Australian Open [ Images ] title against Argentine Diego Hartfield after the draw was made at Melbourne [ Images ] Park on Friday.

The Swiss, bidding for his 13th Grand Slam title, was handed a kind draw in the early stages, though he could face a quarter-final against seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez [ Images ] of Chile, whom he beat in the final 12 months ago.

Federer had to pull out of the warm-up event at Kooyong because of a virus but is expected to be fully fit to play.

Third seed Novak Djokovic [ Images ] is his projected semi-final opponent, though Argentine David Nalbandian [ Images ], who beat Federer twice at the end of last year, is lurking in the same half.

Second seed Rafael Nadal [ Images ], number six Andy Roddick [ Images ], eighth seed Richard Gasquet and number nine Andy Murray [ Images ] are all in the opposite half.

Nadal and Roddick will both play qualifiers in the first round, while Murray has a tough opening match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the world number 38 from France [ Images ].

Women's top seed Justine Henin [ Images ] of Belgium takes on Aiko Nakimura of Japan [ Images ] in the first round.

The Belgian, who won the French Open [ Images ] and US Open [ Images ] in 2007, has a seemingly clear path through to the quarter-finals, where she is scheduled to play fifth seed Maria Sharapova [ Images ].

However, the Russian is likely to face a tough second-round match against former champion Lindsay Davenport [ Images ].

Davenport, who is unseeded this year, has won three titles in her four events since returning to the tour in September, having had a year off, during which she had her first child.

Serena Williams [ Images ] will begin the defense of her title against Jarmila Gajdosova, a Slovakia-born wildcard now playing for Australia [ Images ].

The seventh seed, who won her eighth grand-slam title 12 months ago, is scheduled to play third seed Jelena Jankovic [ Images ] of Serbia in the quarter-finals, while Henin would be her likely semi-final opponent.

American Venus Williams [ Images ], seeded eighth, is in the opposite half and could play Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli [ Images ], whom she beat to win the Wimbledon [ Images ] title last year, in the fourth round.

Williams would then be likely to play fourth seed Ana Ivanovic [ Images ] of Serbia in the quarter-finals.

World number 12 Tommy Haas [ Images ], a former semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, pulled out on the eve of the draw because of injury.