Roddick Faces Tough Test as Main Draw is Made

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Andy Roddick will begin the defence of his Stella Artois Championship title against either former champion Mark Philippoussis or Raemon Sluiter, after the draw was made at The Queen's Club on Saturday. Roddick, the No. 2 seed who has won the title in each of the past two years, receives a bye in the first round along with all of the top eight seeds.

Roddick defeated Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean in the finals of the 2003 and '04 Stella Artois Championships, and the American has won his last 10 matches in the tournament. His only loss in three previous appearances came at the hands of Mikhail Youzhny on his debut in 2001.

The 22-year-old Roddick, who has won two ATP titles this year in San Jose and Houston, has never met 1997 champion Philippoussis, who will make his comeback from injury at this year's tournament against 2002 semifinalist Sluiter. Philippoussis has not played on the ATP circuit since the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, where he suffered a left ankle injury.

Roddick could face another meeting with Grosjean, this time in the quarterfinals, with a potential semifinal encounter with Wimbledon semifinalst Mario Ancic or fourth seed Radek Stepanek.

Also in Roddick's half of the draw is Greg Rusedski, who takes on fellow Briton Joshua Goodall after he received a wild card into his first Stella Artois Championships.

Meanwhile, top seed and three-time champion Lleyton Hewitt makes his eighth consecutive appearance in the tournament this year. The Australian, who won the title in three successive years between 2000-02, returns to action for the first time since the reaching the final of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells in March after suffering a cracked rib.

Hewitt will begin his title bid against either Hyung-Taik Lee, a semifinalist last year, or Xavier Malisse, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2003.

In the semifinals, Hewitt is seeded to meet Britain's Tim Henman, the No. 3 seed, who will meet either Lars Burgsmuller or Robby Ginepri in his opening match. Hewitt has never lost against Henman in eight meetings, including two victories over the Briton in the 2001 and '02 finals at The Queen's Club.

Henman, who also reached the final in 1999 but lost to Pete Sampras, could meet Igor Andreev in the third round, the Russian who defeated Andre Agassi 12 months ago.

Also in Henman's quarter of the draw is sixth seed Thomas Johansson - the Swede who won the grass court title in Nottingham in 2001 and reached the final there last year - as well as Britain's Andrew Murray. The 2004 US Open Junior champion, who received a wild card into his first Stella Artois Championships, will face Spain's Santiago Ventura in the opening round. Ventura, the World No. 109, made a spectacular ATP debut in Casablanca in 2004, qualifying for the clay court tournament before going on to win the title.

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