Federer, Henin will open against qualifiers at the Open

Top seeds Roger Federer and Justine Henin will open up against qualifiers next week, as the draw for the 2007 U.S. Open was revealed Wednesday in a ceremony at the Empire State Building.

The world No. 1 Federer, seeking an Open Era-record fourth straight U.S. Open championship, will face a qualifier in the round of 128 and could meet No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the final. Federer beat Nadal in the Wimbledon finale for a second straight year last month and lost to the Spaniard in the French Open final for a second straight year back in June.

Federer  could  encounter 2003  U.S. Open champ  Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, which would mark of rematch of last year's title bout in New York, won by the amazing Swiss in four sets.

A fifth-seeded Roddick will open his fortnight against fellow American Justin Gimelstob.

The top-ranked Henin's first opponent will be a qualifier and she could meet reigning U.S. Open champ Maria Sharapova in the final, which would mark a rematch of last year's championship match, won by the tall Russian in straight sets. The Belgian Henin captured her lone U.S. Open title in 2003.

Sharapova will open defense of her prestigious title against Italian Roberta Vinci.

The reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open titlist Federer's road to the final could include a bout against talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. A potential semifinal combatant could be dangerous fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko or sixth-seeded American James Blake, who lost to Federer in last week's Cincinnati Masters finale.

Blake will open up against fellow American Michael Russell.

Other potential semifinal opponents for Federer could be 10th-seeded German Tommy Haas or 14th-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas, who stunned the Swiss in back-to-back Masters Series events this season at Indian Wells and Miami.

Nadal will open his "Big Apple" stay against little-known Aussie Alun Jones and could meet Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez in the quarters. Nadal could face tough Argentine David Nalbandian in the third round at the year's final major.

Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic, the recent Canadian Masters titlist, will open up against dangerous Croat Mario Ancic and could encounter Nadal in the semis. Former U.S. Open champ Lleyton Hewitt could loom for Djokovic in the round of 16.

 A potential quarterfinal opponent for the French Open champion Henin could be Aussie Open winner Serena Williams, a two-time U.S. Open champ. The powerful Serena will open against German Angelique Kerber and could face Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in the fourth round.

Henin or Serena could encounter third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, fifth- seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic, the French Open runner-up to Henin, or Venus Williams in the semis. A potential fourth-round opponent for the hard- hitting Ivanovic could be the Wimbledon champion Venus, who, like her younger sister, is also a two-time U.S. Open champ. Venus will open her stay in Flushing against a qualifier and could take on the world No. 3 Jankovic in the quarters.

Sharapova, this year's Aussie Open runner-up to Serena, could meet fellow Russians Anna Chakvetadze in the quarters or Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis. Kuznetsova, who titled in Flushing in 2004. could meet former champion Martina Hingis in the fourth round.

The 2007 U.S. Open will get underway Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.