Henman and Rusedski journey into unknown

At this stage of the game, a Wimbledon qualifier is a figment of the imagination. Not until next weekend will he materialise from the courts at Roehampton, flesh, blood, bone and optimism, with a name, ranking number, and three wins under his belt, prepared to test the best.

The way the draw for the 116th Championships unfolded yesterday, men's singles contenders such as Britain's Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, who take each match as it comes, are not even in a position to speculate about a first-round opponent. Henman, moreover, must overcome one qualifier in order to face a second qualifier, which removes any temptation to take two matches at a time.

Martin Lee, the British No 3, is in no doubt whatsoever. The left-handed Londoner, ranked No 94 in the world, came out of the hat with a first-round draw against Pete Sampras, the struggling seven-times champion, who has not won a tournament anywhere since defeating Pat Rafter in the 2000 final.

Last year, Southport's Barry Cowan was given a wild card and pushed Sampras to five sets in the second round. The 30-year-old Californian went on to lose to Roger Federer, of Switzerland, in the fourth round. Henman eliminated Federer en route to his third semi-final. Goran Ivanisevic then defeated the British No 1, who had fallen to Sampras in 1998 and 1999.

Henman will not play Sampras in this year's tournament unless they both reach the final. Sampras, the sixth seed, is in the lower half of the draw, along with his compatriot Andre Agassi, the 1992 champion. Henman, the fourth seed, is in the top half, projected to meet Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian world No 1, in the semi-finals. Last Sunday, Hewitt defeated Henman for the fifth time in a row to win the Stella Artois Championships for the third year in succession.

While Henman cannot put a name to his first-round opponent, Hewitt must overcome the experienced Jonas Bjorkman, of Sweden. If successful, the 21-year-old from Adelaide could be on course for a quarter-final against Federer. Before that, however, Hewitt may face another fourth-round match with Nicolas Escude, of France, who eliminated him at the same stage last year. Escude opens against Alex Bogdanovic, a British junior given a wild card.

The first seed in Henman's path is Ivanisevic's Croatian pal Ivan Ljubicic, No 30, a possible third-round opponent. Younes Al Aynaoui, of Morocco, No 13, may await Henman in the fourth round, and the eighth seed, Thomas Johansson, of Sweden, the Australian Open champion, could loom in the quarter-finals.

Rusedski, seeded No 23, may play Andrei Stoliarov, of Russia, ranked No 110, in the second round, the 19-year-old American Andy Roddick, the 14th seed, in the third round, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the fifth seed, in the fourth round. In the quarters? Agassi, the third seed, or perhaps the big-serving Australian, Mark Philippoussis. In the semis? Sampras, or Marat Safin, or good old Todd Martin. Whoever, by then Rusedski would believe his name was on the trophy.

In the women's singles, it is a question of who can stop the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, meeting in the final. Venus, the defending champion and world No 1, is projected to play Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, the fifth seed, in the quarter-finals, and either Monica Seles, the fourth seed, or Justine Henin, of Belgium, last year's runner up, in the semi-finals.

Serena, the French Open champion, seeded No 2, may meet either Jelena Dokic, of Yugoslavia, or Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, in the quarter-finals, and is projected to play Jennifer Capriati, the Australian Open champion, in the semi-finals.

The first round offers an intriguing Russian duel between Tatiana Panova, the 21st seed, and Anna Kournikova, unseeded here but No 1 on the internet.