Davenport faces Dokic in opening round

The Australian Open has a cracking first round women's clash between holder Lindsay Davenport and 17-year-old Australian Jelena Dokic.

Winner of a title in Hong Kong already this year, Dokic is the girl who knocked top seed Martina Hingis out of Wimbledon in the opening round in 1999.

Sixteen at the time, she went on to reach the quarter-finals then and on her return last June went one stage further before losing 6-4 6-2 to Davenport.

Dokic was also a semi-finalist in the Olympics three months later.

Britain's Louise Latimer, the world-ranked 110 who squeezed into the main draw without the need to go through the qualifying tournament, takes on Venezuelan Maria Vento, rated only seven places ahead of her.

Victory would put the 22-year-old from Norwich through to a second round against either world number 21 Elena Likhovtseva or world number 22 Barbara Schett.

Hingis, who beat Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Sydney warm-up event yesterday, could well have to face her at the same stage - and waiting for the winner of that might be Williams' sister Venus, the Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic champion.