Tim Henman's hopes of winning Britain an Olympic medal suffered a setback when the draw for the men's singles landed him in a tough quarter that includes new US Open champion Marat Safin.

The Briton was not the only man to pull out a short straw, however.

The men's doubles draw produced a gasp from the audience at the Sydney Opera House when Australia's all-conquering Woodies - Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge - were teed up to meet India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the second round.

But Safin is the man of the moment in tennis.

The Russian, whose destruction of Pete Sampras in last week's final in New York has been seen as heralding the dawn of a new era in the men's game, should have little trouble navigating past Fabrice Santoro of France in the first round, provided his recent efforts have not left him completely exhausted.

After his gruelling two weeks in New York, Safin flew directly to Uzbekistan to play in the President's Cup tournament and, if he wins there, will not be in Sydney before Monday at the earliest, the day before the competition is due to start.

However, the formbook suggests he will not face a serious work-out before a scheduled quarter-final clash with Henman, who is seeded seventh and won a silver medal in the doubles in the Atlanta Games alongside Neil Broad.

If Henman is to keep his appointment with Safin, he must first get through a tough first-round clash with Karol Kucera of Slovakia and a projected third-round meeting with Michael Chang.

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the fourth seed who is seen as Safin's most likely rival for domination of men's tennis over the next decade, was lined up to face either Henman or Safin at the semi-final stage.

In the women's draw, the two American top seeds, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams, should have a fairly comfortable passage to the latter stages.

Williams, however, could be tested at the quarter-final stage, where she is likely to meet either the powerful Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo or former world number one Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

The top seeds in the women's doubles, France's Sandrine Testud and Julie Halard-Decugis, will have been less than delighted to see Serena and Venus Williams drawn in their quarter of the draw.

The Williams sisters have not been seeded but are inevitably the favourites for the gold - although they could face a tough challenge from Sanchez-Vicario and Conchita Martinez, with the Spanish pair attempting to improve on the bronze and silver medals they have won in the last two Olympics.

Great Britain team manager Roger Taylor, reacting to Henman's draw, described the meeting with Kucera as "a tough opener".

Henman's half of the draw includes US Open winner Marat Safin, of Russia, and Rodger Federer.

"It will not be easy for him," said Taylor, "but Tim likes the Olympic experience. He always plays well for Great Britain, whether at the Davis Cup or the Olympic Games."

Taylor added that Barry Cowan, who was given a last-minute place in the singles draw when Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador pulled out with a leg injury, was thrilled by his good fortune.

"Barry was overjoyed to come here as a doubles player originally. Now he's got a singles place too and he's an extremely happy man."