MELBOURNE, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Serena Williams of the United States were named the No. 1 seeds Wednesday for the men's and women's singles events at the Australian Open.
Hewitt earned the top seed at the year's first Grand Slam tournament by finishing as the world No. 1 for the second straight season. The Adelaide native is the reigning Wimbledon and Tennis Masters Cup champion.
Williams captured the final three Grand Slam events last year. She will be gunning for her first Australian Open title and claim what she has dubbed the "Serena Slam."
Three-time Australian Open champion Andre Agassi of the United States is the second seed in the men's draw. Russian Marat Safin and Spaniards Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya round out the top five.
On the women's side, Venus Williams - Serena's older sister - is the second seed and is followed by fellow American Jennifer Capriati. Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne are fourth and fifth.
Hewitt will attempt to make up for last year's disappointment at Melbourne Park, when he battled chicken pox and suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Alberto Martin of Spain.
In addition to Ferrero and Moya, Spain is represented by reigning French Open Champion Albert Costa, the eighth seed, Alex Corretja at No. 15 and Tommy Robredo, the 26th seed.
There are only two other seeded Americans with Andy Roddick at No. 9 and James Blake at No. 23. Blake already has defeated Hewitt en route to capturing the Hopman Cup with teammate Serena Williams in Perth.
Defending champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden pulled out due to a knee injury, joining U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras, Germany's Tommy Haas and England's Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski on the sidelines.
Serena Williams, who won the 2001 Australian Open doubles title with her sister, will look to get past the quarterfinals in the women's singles draw for the first time. A year ago, she was forced to withdraw due to a twisted ankle.
Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova earned her highest seeding at a Grand Slam at No. 7. Lindsay Davenport of the United States, the 2000 Australian Open winner, was given the ninth seed a year after missing the tournament due to injury.
The Australian Open draw will be held at Melbourne Park on Friday.
