Henman seeding opens the way

Tim Henman was today presented with his best opportunity yet in the Australian Open when he was seeded No7 for the tournament, which starts in Melbourne on Monday.

Henman, a winner in Adelaide last weekend, is expected to at least reach the quarter-finals, something he has never managed in Melbourne before.

Greg Rusedski is seeded 29th. The British No2's preparations for the season's first Grand Slam hit a snag today at the Heineken event in Auckland.

Rusedski lost the first set 7-5 to Czech Michal Tabara before rain stopped play for the day.

Lleyton Hewitt is the first Australian to be seeded No1 at the Open since Ken Rosewall in 1976.

Defending men's champion Andre Agassi, seeded three, is aiming for his third consecutive men's singles title while 1999 champion and 2000 runnerup, Yevgeny Kafelnikovis seeded four. Ahead of them is the current French Open champion and the No1 seed in this event last year, Gustavo Kuerten, with twotime champion Pete Sampras at nine.

Topping the women's list is defending champion Jennifer Capriati, whose preparations suffered a setback today when she was knocked out of the Sydney International. She profits from Lindsay Davenport ' s withdrawal through injury.

US Open and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams is seeded second, with three times back-to-back Australian Open champion Martina Hingis, at No3. Kim Clijsters is seeded four ahead of Serena Williams (5), who beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 7-6 to reach the semi-finals in Sydney.

Capriati knocked out in Sydney