Today's draw for the year's first major placed third-ranked Novak Djokovic and No. 10 David Nalbandian, who both beat Federer toward the end of last season, in the top seed's half of the draw. Marat Safin, the 2005 champion, and last year's runnerup Fernando Gonzalez are also in the same section.

Federer, whose preparations have been disrupted by a stomach virus, is unbeaten at Melbourne Park since his 2005 semifinal loss to Safin and might face No. 7 Gonzalez in the quarterfinals.

Federer defeated the 106th-ranked Hartfield in their only previous meeting at the French Open in 2006. Their match will take place Jan. 15, the second day of the tournament, giving the Swiss extra time to recuperate.

"Federer has obviously taken some precautionary measures this week," Tournament Director Craig Tiley said in a radio broadcast on the tournament's Web site. "He's hit twice already, last night and the night before, and both were extended hits so he's looking much healthier."

Second seed Rafael Nadal, No. 6 Andy Roddick, No. 8 Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray, the ninth seed, are in the opposite half and will play on the Jan. 14 opening day. Nadal and Roddick will both face as yet unknown qualifiers in the opening round.

Justine Henin, the top women's seed, will face 70th-ranked Aiko Nakamura in the first round on day one and is in line to meet fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova in the last eight. Henin beat Nakamura 6-0, 6-0 in their only other meeting in 2006.

Williams Sisters

The other women's quarterfinals might pit three-time champion Serena Williams against third-ranked Jelena Jankovic, No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova with Anna Chakvetadze, and Venus Williams against Ana Ivanovic.

Serena Williams will begin her title defense against Jarmila Gajdosova, a Slovakia-born wildcard who plays for Australia. This is the Williams sisters' first appearance together in the top 10 of a Grand Slam since the 2005 U.S. Open.

Should the top eight men advance, the other quarterfinals would see Nadal take on Roddick, Djokovic play David Ferrer and Gasquet up against Nikolay Davydenko.

Potential first-week highlights are a second-round clash between Sharapova and 2000 champion Lindsay Davenport, while three-time Melbourne Park finalist Safin could play 2002 winner Thomas Johansson or 2006 runnerup Marcos Baghdatis in round two.

The winner of that match could then face No. 19 seed Lleyton Hewitt, who is seeking to become the first Australian to win his home Grand Slam since Mark Edmondson in 1976.