Federer, Henin receive top seeds for Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer and Justine Henin took the No. 1 seeds atop the Australian Open on Thursday.

As usual at the season's first major event, the top 32 players have been seeded according to their world rankings.

Spain's Rafael Nadal is second, followed by Serbia's Novak Djokovic on the men's side. Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova was No. 2 among the women, ahead of Serbians pair Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic and Russia's Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova was seeded No. 1 last year when she lost the final to Serena Williams, who was unseeded and ranked No. 81 before her stunning comeback to win an eighth Grand Slam singles title.

Serena Williams was seeded seventh this year, one spot above sister Venus Williams, who missed last year's Australian Open.

Federer is aiming to become the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian Open singles titles.

-- AP