Tim Henman was today seeded 11 for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, which gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
The British number one missed the tournament last year through injury but has been in impressive form of late, with victory at the Paris Masters in October being followed by a semi-final appearance in Doha last week.
In the official list of men's and women's seedings released today, each was topped by the respective world number ones in Andy Roddick and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Henman is one place behind Mark Philippoussis, but four spots higher than the other leading Australian hope, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Neither Australian has made it past the fourth round at their home Grand Slam.
Roddick was a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park last year and went on to enjoy a sensational season, winning the US Open and becoming the youngest player in the history of the ATP rankings to finish the year as world number one.
Behind him is Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, seeded second, followed by French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Defending Australian Open champion Andre Agassi is seeded fourth and chasing a fifth title in Melbourne after his victories in 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2003.
The women's competition has been blighted by a host of big-name withdrawals, with defending champion Serena Williams and former title holder Jennifer Capriati (2001 and 2002) both out injured.
Mary Pierce (1995) and Jelena Dokic have also pulled out, while Belgian Kim Clijsters has been seeded second despite remaining a major doubt with an ankle injury.
Henin-Hardenne is top seed after an outstanding year in 2003, in which she reached the semi-final or better in 18 of the 19 tournaments she entered, winning both the French Open and US Open.
