Federer in tough draw at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England, June 20 (UPI) -- Roger Federer's path to a sixth consecutive Wimbledon championship includes a potential semifinal meeting with Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.

A true draw would have had the third-seeded Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in January, in the bottom half of the men's bracket. But Wimbledon officials on Friday placed the world's third-ranked player in the same half of the draw as Federer, the No. 1-ranked player.

In addition, fifth-seeded David Ferrer is in the top half of the bracket, and could draw Federer in the quarterfinals. Overall, Federer could face five players -- Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Thomas Johansson, Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero -- who have won grand slam events.

On the other hand, they'd have to play Federer, who has won 59 consecutive matches on grass courts and is seeking to become the first man to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles in the open era.

Rafael Nadal, seeded second and coming off a drubbing of Federer in the French Open final, has a potential semifinal against either fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko or sixth-seeded Andy Roddick. Nadal's quarterfinal foes are likely either ninth-ranked Richard Gasquet or No. 11 Andy Murray.

The Championships at Wimbledon begin Monday. The men's singles final is scheduled for July 6.