Hewitt Set for Title Defense
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© Getty ImagesLleyton Hewitt has won his last 15
matches at Queen's Club.
The main draw for the 2003 Stella Artois Championships has thrown out some mouthwatering matches as top seed Lleyton Hewitt begins his bid for a fourth consecutive championship at the Queen's Club, London.
With the top eight seeds all receiving first round byes, Hewitt, who has a 19-2 record in the tournament, will face either Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands or Romania's Adrian Voinea as he attempts to join John McEnroe and Boris Becker as the only four-time winners in the 25-year history of the tournament. Hewitt has won his last 15 matches at the Queen's Club and his last defeat came at the hands of Pete Sampras in the semifinals in 1999.
Standing in his path to the final this year could be rising American Mardy Fish, the No. 13 seed, in the third round, with a potential quarterfinal against Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, the No. 6 seed who received a wild card.
But there is no chance of a third consecutive final against Britain's Tim Henman, the No. 7 seed who could face Hewitt in the semifinals. Henman, runner-up in three of the last four years at the Queen's Club, will take on either Alexander Waske of Germany or Italy's David Sanguinetti.
Henman, who has struggled with injuries this year but rediscovered some of his old form en route to the third round at Roland Garros last week, could face No. 12 seed Max Mirnyi, the "Beast" from Belarus, in the third round, with a potential quarterfinal clash against No. 4 seed Paradorn Srichaphan. The Thai star reached the quarterfinals in 2001, losing to Henman in straight sets.
In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Andre Agassi will meet either Peter Luczak or Vladimir Voltchkov in the second round. Agassi, making his second appearance at the Stella Artois Championships and his first since 2000, is in arguably the toughest section of the draw that sees 1997 champion Mark Philippoussis taking on former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, with the winner possibly facing Goran Ivanisevic in the second round.
Krajicek currently leads the head-to-head series against Philippoussis 5-2, and has won their last two meetings including a marathon five-set match at last year's Wimbledon Championships, their only previous match on grass.
Should Agassi survive that section of the draw, he is seeded to meet No. 8 Xavier Malisse - the Belgian who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon last year - in the quarterfinals, and third seed Andy Roddick in the semifinals.
Roddick, who lost in the first round in 2001 against Mikhail Youzhny on his only appearance at Queen's Club, will face a qualifier in the second round, with a potential third round match against either Robby Ginepri, the No. 15 seed, or Britain's Greg Rusedski.
The 29-year-old, who made his first appearance of the year on the ATP circuit at Roland Garros, reached the quarterfinals at last week's Challenger event in Surbiton.