The top seed for the third time in five trips to Melbourne, Hingis will face Katalin Marosi of Hungary in the first round. Last year, Hingis' bid for a fourth straight Australian Open title was ended by American Lindsay Davenport in the final.

Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, the top seed on the men's side, faces Gaston Gaudio of Argentina in the opening round.

Kuerten is the first player from South America to secure the top seed at a Grand Slam event since Argentina's Guillermo Vilas was the No. 1 seed at this event each year from 1977-81.

A two-time French Open champion, Kuerten ended 2000 as the top-ranked men's player after a stunning victory at the Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon.

Russia's Marat Safin, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is seeded second as tournament officials adhered strictly to the year-end rankings on both the men's and women's sides. Safin will take on Galo Blanco of Spain in the first round.

Two-time Australian Open champ Pete Sampras is the third seed, and will meet Karol Kucera of Slovakia.

Fourth seed Magnus Norman takes on Stephane Huet of France; 1999 winner and fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov faces Jens Knippschild of Germany.

Defending champion and sixth seed Andre Agassi of the United States battles Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic.

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the seventh seed, has a challenging first-round encounter against Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden. Eighth seed Tim Henman of Britian faces Hicham Arazi of Morocco, ninth seed and Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero meets Australian Alun Jones, and 10th seed Wayne Ferreira battles Karim Alami of Morocco.

Eleventh seed Franco Squillari of Argentina entertains Spaniard David Sanchez; two-time U.S Open champion Patrick Rafter of Australia, the No. 12 seed, meets countryman Scott Draper; 13th seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia faces a qualifier; 15th seed and Frenchmen Arnaud Clement also meets a qualifier; and No. 16 Sebastien Grosjean of Frances takes on Iva Ljubicic of Croatia.

Davenport, the second seed on the women's side, opens defense of her title against Jelena Dokic of Austria.

Fellow American Venus Williams, who is the reigning Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympic champion, will take on a qualifier in her first-round match.

Four-time Australian Open champ Monica Seles, who is seeded fourth, meets fellow American Brie Rippner. No. 5 seed Conchita Martinez of Spain faces Christina Wheeler of Australia in the first round.

Williams' younger sister and 1999 U.S. Open champion Serena, is seeded sixth and will meet Janet Lee of Chinese Taipei.

France's Mary Pierce, who won here in 1995, is next, and battles Sylvia Plischke of Austria. Eighth seed Anna Kournikova of Russia battles Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia; No. 9 Elena Dementieva, a U.S. Open semifinalist, faces American Lilia Osterloh; and 10th seed Amanda Coetzer meets Canadian Sonya Jeyaseelan.

American Chanda Rubin, the 11th seed, faces a qualifier; fellow American and 2000 semifinalist Jennifer Capriati meets Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakial; No. 13 Amelie Mauresmo of France entertains Ai Sugiyama of Japan; 14th seed Sandrine Testud of France battles Spaniard Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo; 15th seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium meets a qualifier and 16th seed Amy Frazier of the United States also faces a qualifier.

The Australian Open begins Monday (Sunday night in the United States).