Tennis
Federer out for honour in opening match against Hrbaty
By DPA
Jun 20, 2008, 16:36 GMT

London - Roger Federer starts his Wimbledon Championships title defence against one of the rare players whom he's never beaten after being drawn into the first round against Dominik Hrbaty.

The 272nd-ranked Slovak is a statistical quirk in the Federer record, owning a 2-0 mark over the world number one. Hrbaty, whose ranking has seen better days before injury, beat the younger Federer in 2000 with the pair last meeting in 2004.

Since then, the Swiss has gone onto dominate the game, with his position now under pressure from rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The 27-year-old is bidding for a record sixth straight title at the All England club, carrying a 59-match winning streak on grass into his first-round encounter.

Second-seeded French Open champion Nadal, who now owns a title on grass after winning Queen's last week over Djokovic, starts against German Andreas Beck.

Djokovic, the Australian Open winner who beat Federer in a Melbourne semi-final, was drawn into the top half of the draw on the Swiss side. The Serb begins with a match against another German in Michael Berrer.

Britain's Andy Murray, seeded 12th, could have asked for an easier start as he takes on wily French veteran Fabrice Santoro.

Women's top seed Ana Ivanovic, the new French Open holder, heads a one-two punch for Serbia ahead of Jelena Jankovic.

Ivanovic starts with Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios while Jankovic plays in the first round against Olga Savchuk of the Ukraine.