Henman and co given early hope

He got to the third round at the Australian Open before being eliminated by Roger Federer and made it to round two at Roland Garros after going through against an injured Andre Agassi.

But the 23-year-old provided few problems for Rusedski when they met at Nottingham two years ago.

The British No2 will hope for a similarly straightforward performance against Alberto Martin at Wimbledon this time around.

The Spaniard has not made it beyond the second round in the last five years and Rusedski knows that he is due a few results at the Championships.

He said: "I would've liked to do better and should have done better. I've lost to guys who've gone on to do really well, but my record at Wimbledon should be better than it is."

The 31-year-old is not seeded because he is ranked 39 in the world.

Rusedski said: "If you are seeded, you can obviously plot your path. If not, you could be playing top seeds. So I'm taking it one match at a time. If I serve well, everything else falls into place."

Murray, meanwhile, will be reassured that he has been drawn against a qualifier after being handed a wild card into the draw.

The 18-year-old Scot pulled out of the Nottingham Open this week to ensure he would fully recover from an ankle injury which he picked up during his impressive showing at Queen's.

There have been no such problems for Federer, who is seeking his third successive Wimbledon title, but the Swiss was hoping for a little time to get into the groove this year.

He will not be disappointed to be facing Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who has gone out in the first and second rounds in his only two appearances in the main draw.

Second seed Roddick was also given a straightforward opening match against Jiri Vanek, but could play giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the second round. The American narrowly beat towering 6ft 10in Karlovic 7-6, 7-6 in the final of the Queen's warm-up event at the weekend but failed to break his serve.

Former champion Hewitt plays Belgian Christophe Rochus in round one and could meet Federer in the semis if he gets that. French Open champion and fourth seed Rafael Nadal faces American Vince Spadea.

In the women's singles, Maria Sharapova will start the defence of her ladies' singles title against Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives. World No 1 Lindsay Davenport, winner here in 1999, is this year's top seed and will meet Russian Alina Jidkova in the first round.

French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne will play Elini Daniilidou of Greece, while former Wimbledon title winners Venus Williams and Serena Williams are set to be in first-round action against a qualifier and American Angela Haynes respectively.