LONDON, June 23 (UPI) -- Andre Agassi will be the center of attention Monday at Wimbledon.
With last year's finalists absent from the All-England Club and seven-time champion Pete Sampras nursing a sore back, Agassi will be featured in the first match on Centre Court when the third leg of the Grand Slam gets under way.
Agassi, the third seed, will open against Harel Levy of Israel as he seeks his second Wimbledon title. Agassi has not played a match on grass this year and has not played at all since a quarterfinal loss at the French Open.
Defending champion Goran Ivanisevic would have opened play on Centre Court, but will miss the tournament following shoulder surgery. Pat Rafter, last year's runner-up, is taking a break from tennis.
Sampras would have been the third choice, but he pulled out of an exhibition match Saturday because of a bad back. He will use the extra time to heal and play in the third match of the day on Centre Court.
The second match will feature one of the top players from the women's draw as second-seeded Serena Williams, the French Open champ, will face Australia's Evie Dominikovic.
The top seed on the men's side is Aussie Lleyton Hewitt, who was bounced in the fourth round here last year before winning the U.S. Open for the first Grand Slam title of his career.
Hewitt is coming off a win over Britain's Tim Henman at the Stella Artois Championships. It was his third title of the season and fourth of his career on grass.
Marat Safin of Russia is seeded second, followed by Agassi, Henman, Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and Sampras, who has not won a title since claiming his record 13th Grand Slam crown here in 2000. He also won Wimbledon from 1993-95 and 1997-2000.
The 30-year-old Sampras played in one Wimbledon tuneup, losing a second-round match to Nicolas Kiefer at the Gerry Weber Open. He has 63 career titles but has been in just one final this year.
Venus Williams is the top seed as she tries to become the ninth female to win three straight Wimbledon singles crowns and the first since Steffi Graf from 1991-93. She has won four of the last eight Grand Slam titles, including the last two U.S. Opens.
Serena Williams, who defeated her sister for the French Open title, is seeded second, followed by Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.
Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, who won Wimbledon titles in 1997 and 1999, respectively, are out with injuries.
