World number one Roger Federer faces a tough task in his bid to win the French Open for the first time. The Swiss, dreaming of capturing the only grand slam title to have eluded him, was drawn in the same half as several dangerous opponents, including former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. He could also run into Tommy Robredo, Marat Safin, Ivan Ljubicic, Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian, Guillermo Canas and Fernando Gonzalez.

Twice defending champion Rafael Nadal, the world number two, was handed a far easier draw for the tournament, which starts at Roland Garros this Sunday.

Top seed Federer will start with a relatively easy match against little-known American Michael Russell and should not be challenged in the next two rounds.

From the fourth round, however, things are likely to get a lot more complicated for him as he could meet Spaniard Ferrero, the 2003 champion. If he survives that, a possible semi-final clash against Gonzalez could be on the cards.

Nadal will start against unheralded Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro and has a smooth passage through to the fourth round, in which he could meet Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

Former champion Carlos Moya of Spain and American Andy Roddick, seeded third, could then stand in the 20-year-old’s way before a possible semi-final encounter with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, seeded sixth.

England’s Tim Henman will play Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis in the first round. If he wins, and beats 25th seed Robin Soderling or Albert Montanes in the second round, the British number two could then take on reigning two-time champion Rafael Nadal in round three.

Gulbis, 18, is a talented right-hander who has shot up the rankings since turning professional in 2005. He ended 2006 ranked 139th position in the world, and is currently 84th in the charts. He has already won challenger events in Besancon and Sarajevo this year. Henman, who has been troubled by knee problems this season, has slipped to 52nd in the world after a poor start to 2007. He has yet to win even a set in his two matches on clay this year. He was dumped out of the Masters event in Monte Carlo in April at the first-round stage by Juan Carlos Ferrero, and suffered the same fate at the hands of Nicolas Almagro in Rome earlier this month. Henman chose not to compete in the recent Masters event in Hamburg in a bid to fine-tune his preparations for Roland Garros.

In the women’s draw, the top contenders look set to progress smoothly through to the latter stages. World number one Justine Henin, who like Nadal is chasing a third successive crown, starts against Russia’s Elena Vesnina, while Maria Sharapova, the second seed but not a clay court specialist, will face French woman Emilie Loit in the first round.

The draw in full:

Men (w-wild card; q-qualifier; ll-lucky loser):

Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Michael Russell; Qualifier vs. W-Thierry Ascione; Qualifier vs. Potito Starace; Carlos Berlocq, Argentina, vs. Julien Benneteau (30); Juan Carlos Ferrero (17) vs. Amer Delic; Stefan Koubek vs. Qualifier; Nicolas Lapentti, vs. Alexander Peya; Jan Hernych vs. Mikhail Youzhny (13); Tommy Robredo (9), vs. Sergio Roitman; Chris Guccione vs. Qualifier; Janko Tipsarevic vs. Qualifier; Qualifier vs. Marat Safin (22), Russia

Filippo Volandri (29), Italy, vs. Qualifier; Martin Vassallo Arguello, Argentina, vs. Alejandro Falla, Colombia; Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, Spain, vs. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland; Arnaud Clement, France, vs. Ivan Ljubicic (7), Croatia Nikolay Davydenko (4), Russia, vs. Stefano Galvani, Italy; W-Alexandre Sidorenko, France, vs. Werner Eschauer, Austria; Michael Llodra, France, vs. Nicolas Devilder, France; Justin Gimelstob, United States, vs. Nicolas Almagro (32), Spain; Juan Ignacio Chela (18), Argentina, vs. Fabrice Santoro, France; Olivier Rochus, Belgium, vs. Gael Monfils, France; Qualifier vs. Qualifier; Lee Hyung-taik, South Korea, vs. David Nalbandian (15), Argentina;

Richard Gasquet (11), France vs. W-Nicolas Mahut, France; Kristof Vliegen, Belgium vs. Danai Udomchoke, Thailand; Martin Verkerk, Netherlands, vs. Simone Bolelli, Italy; Victor Hanescu, Romania, vs. Guillermo Canas (19), Argentina; Jurgen Melzer (27), Austria, vs. Jose Acasuso, Argentina

Qualifier vs. Juan Monaco, Argentina; W-Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France, vs. Qualifier; Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, vs. Fernando Gonzalez (5), Chile; Novak Djokovic (6), Serbia, vs. Qualifier; Sam Querrey, United States, vs. Qualifier; W-Jonathan Eysseric, France vs. W-Olivier Patience, France

Qualifier vs. Agustin Calleri (26), Argentina; Dmitry Tursunov (21), Russia, vs. Alessio Di Mauro, Italy; Fernando Verdasco, Spain vs. Qualifier; Robby Ginepri, United States, vs. Diego Hartfield, Argentina; Daniele Bracciali, Italy, vs. David Ferrer (12), Spain; Marcos Baghdatis (16), Cyprus, vs. Sebastien Grosjean, France; Kristian Pless, Denmark vs. Lu Yen-hsun, Taiwan;

Thomas Johansson, Sweden, vs. Jan Hajek, Czech Republic; Qualifier vs. Dominik Hrbaty (24), Slovakia; Florian Mayer (31), Austria, vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu, France; Vincent Spadea, United States, vs. Gilles Simon, France; Luis Horna, Peru, vs. Nicolas Massu, Chile; Igor Andreev, Russia, vs. Andy Roddick (3), United States; James Blake (8), United States, vs. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia; W-Peter Luczak, Austria, vs. Jonas Bjorkman, Sweden; Qualifier vs. Oscar Hernandez, Spain; Qualifier vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (28), Germany

Carlos Moya (23), Spain vs. Andreas Seppi, Italy; Florent Serra, France, vs. Igor Kunitsyn, Russia; Robert Kendrick, United States, vs. Qualifier; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, vs. Tomas Berdych (10), Czech Republic; Lleyton Hewitt (14), Australia, vs. Max Mirnyi, Belarus; Marc Gicquel, France, vs. Gaston Gaudio, Argentina; Benjamin Becker, Germany, vs. W-Mathieu Montcourt, France; Feliciano Lopez, Spain, vs. Jarkko Nieminen (20), Finland; Robin Soderling (25), Sweden, vs. Albert Montanes, Spain; Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, vs. Tim Henman, Britain; Qualifier vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili, Russia; Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina, vs. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain

Women

Justine Henin (1), Belgium, vs. Elena Vesnina, Russia; Tamira Paszek, Austria, vs. Aiko Nakamura, Japan; Tamarine Tanasugarn, Thailand, vs. W-Casey Dellacqua, Australia; Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, vs. Mara Santangelo (28), Italy; Sybille Bammer (20), Austria, vs. Roberta Vinci, Italy; Yaroslava Shvedova, Russia, vs. Qualifier; W-Pauline Parmentier, France, vs. Qualifier; Sandra Kloesel, Germany, vs. Li Na (26), China; Dinara Safina (10), Russia, vs. Yuliana Fedak, Ukraine;

Melinda Czink, Hungary, vs. Tzipora Obziler, Israel; Qualifier vs. Zheng Jie, China; Yvonne Meusburger, Austria, vs. Francesca Schiavone (23), Italy; Severine Bremond (31), France, vs. Michaella Krajicek, Netherlands; W-Olivia Sanchez, France, vs. Shenay Perry, United States; Milagros Sequera, Venezuela, vs. Virginie Razzano, France; Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, vs. Serena Williams (8), United States; Jelena Jankovic (4), Serbia, vs. W-Stephanie Foretz, France;

Catalina Castano, Colombia, vs. Qualifier; Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, vs. Ashley Harkleroad, United States; W-Alize Cornet, France, vs. Venus Williams (26), United States; Marion Bartoli (18), France, vs. Aravane Rezai, France; Jarmila Gajdosova, Slovakia, vs. Qualifier; W-Mathilde Johansson, France, vs. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany; Angelique Kerber, Germany, vs. Elena Dementieva (13), Russia; Nadia Petrova (11), Russia, vs. Qualifier; Anastasiya Yakimova, Belarus, vs. W-Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, France; Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spain, vs. Anna Smashnova, Israel;

Akiko Morigami, Japan, vs. Tathiana Garbin (19), Italy; Samantha Stosur (27), Australia, vs. Jamea Jackson, United States; Maria Kirilenko, Russia, vs. Maria Elena Camerin, Italy; Qualifier vs. Vania King, United States; Emmanuelle Gagliardi, Switzerland, vs. Nicole Vaidisova (6), Czech Republic; Ana Ivanovic (7), Serbia, vs. Qualifier; Alberta Brianti, Italy, vs. Sania Mirza, India; Tatiana Poutchek, Belarus, vs. W-Youlia Fedossova, France; Qualifier vs. Julia Vakulenko (30), Ukraine;

Anabel Medina Garrigues (24), Spain, vs. Varvara Lepchenko, Uzbekistan; Elena Likhovtseva, Russia, vs. Chan Yung-jan, Taiwan; Olga Poutchkova, Russia, vs. Eleni Daniilidou, Greece; Jelena Kostanic, Croatia, vs. Daniela Hantuchova (12), Slovakia; Shahar Peer (15), Israel vs. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia; Edina Gallovits, Romania, vs. Vasilisa Bardina, Russia; Vera Dushevina, Russia, vs. Camille Pin, France; Anastasia Rodionova, Russia, vs. Katarina Srebotnik (17), Slovenia; Martina Muller, Germany, vs. Qualifier; Qualifier vs. Sun Tiantian, China; Anastasia Myskina, Russia, vs. Meghann Shaughnessy, United States;

Ekaterina Bychkova, Russia, vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (3), Russia; Amelie Mauresmo (5), France, vs. Laura Granville, United States; Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, vs. Nathalie Dechy, France; Flavia Pennetta, Italy, vs. Nicole Pratt, Australia; Yulia Beygelzimer, Ukraine, vs. Lucie Safarova (25), Czech Republic; Ai Sugiyama (21), Japan, vs. Eva Birnerova, Czech Republic; Romina Oprandi, Italy, vs. Meilen Tu, United States; Anne Kremer, Luxembourg, vs. Qualifier;

Alicia Molik, Australia, vs. Anna Chakvetadze (9), Russia; Patty Schnyder (14), Switzerland, vs. Martina Sucha, Slovakia; Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, vs. Zuzana Ondraskova, Czech Republic; Karin Knapp, Italy, vs. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus; Iveta Benesova, Czech Republic, vs. Alona Bondarenko (22), Ukraine; Gisela Dulko (29), Argentina, vs. Qualifier; Julia Schruff, Germany, vs. Qualifier; Lourdes Dominguez lino, Spain, vs. Jill Craybas, United States; Emilie Loit, France, vs. Maria Sharapova (2), Russia.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Juan Pablo Angel had two goals and an assist to lead the undermanned New York Red Bulls to a record-setting 3-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Thursday night.

GAME REPORT: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores107/107144/MLS762472.htm

Teenage star Jozy Altidore also scored for the Red Bulls (5-1-2), who set an MLS record for the quickest two goals at the start of a game. And Altidore’s goal ? which came just 55 seconds into the match ? was the fastest goal in franchise history.

Angel then scored his first goal at 2:22, allowing the Red Bulls to eclipse the previous record of 3 minutes, which was twice achieved by DC United ? once in 1997 and again in 2001.

Angel, a former star with Aston Villa of the English Premier League, closed the scoring in the 68th minute. After taking control of a loose ball in front of the net and faking Chicago defender Chris Armas, Angel easily beat goalkeeper Matt Pickens.

Red Bulls goalie Jon Conway had 10 saves to post his second straight shutout and the 12th of his career.

Chicago (3-4-1) had 15 shots at goal, but only one legitimate scoring chance. That came in the 56th minute, when Conway turned aside a low blast from Chad Barrett.

For the third straight match, the Red Bulls played without captain Claudio Reyna, who sat out due to a groin strain. First-string goalie Ronald Wattereus and starting defenseman Hunter Freeman both missed the game with ankle sprains.

The House on Wednesday failed to override the veto of a $124.2 billion supplemental appropriations bill for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that included funds for a number of http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=3&DR_ID=44642, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. The House voted 222-203 to override the veto but fell 62 votes short of the required two-thirds majority (Espo, AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/3). President Bush on Tuesday vetoed the legislation because of opposition to provisions that called for the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/2).

Negotiations on New Bill
In a meeting with Bush on Wednesday, Democratic congressional leaders agreed to exclude domestic spending provisions from a new version of the supplemental appropriations bill until they can reach an agreement with the White House on provisions related to the war in Iraq. Bush has opposed the inclusion of the domestic spending provisions in the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said, “I said to the president that it’s very clear that the No. 1 issue is Iraq — don’t talk about the other things in this emergency spending bill. Iraq is the issue we must be concerned about.”

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said that lawmakers will discuss the domestic spending provisions later in negotiations with the White House (Ferrechio, CQ Today, 5/2). According to CQ Today, “Democrats have said they are ready to fight” for the inclusion of the domestic spending provisions in the bill (Ferrechio/Clark, CQ Today, 5/2). House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that Congress should approve the legislation by Memorial Day (Koffler, CongressDaily, 5/3).

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

And while such a deal could take some time to cement, the prospect was enough to persuade powerful US hedge funds, which hold about a 20 per cent stake in the LSE, to reject Nasdaq’s 1243p-a-share offer.

The failure of the bid by the New York high-tech market is regarded as a triumph for LSE chief executive Clara Furse, who has seen off a succession of predators, ranging from OM of Sweden to Frankfurt’s Deutsche Borse.

Over the past two years, shares in the LSE have soared from 450p to a high of 1344p last month. On Friday, they closed at 1282p, still well above Nasdaq’s final offer. The sharp rise in the value of the LSE vindicates Furse’s tough line in rejecting a wave of lower bids.

Nasdaq will formally concede defeat tomorrow after persuading virtually none of the LSE’s shareholders to accept its bid.

This could put pressure on chief executive Bob Greifeld, whose aggressive tactics and arrogant approach to the bid is seen as a major contribution to its failure.

His decision to go hostile in November and his assumption the LSE would sit down and talk after such an aggressive approach are now seen as major tactical errors.

Greifeld’s remarks that he would consider joining a banking consortium, Project Turquoise, to set up in competition against Furse were seen as rebounding badly on Nasdaq, especially as it would devalue its own 28.8 per cent in the LSE.

From the platform of such a large shareholding, Nasdaq was initially expected to win the battle, but over the months, LSE has successfully argued that its share price reflected its record-breaking performance and the possibility of more lucrative deals ahead.

US hedge funds, led by American investor Samuel Heyman, were inclined to believe the LSE. Some analysts reckon the shares could rise as high as 1500p.

Other stories:
LSE hits at inconsistent Nasdaq
LSE set to see off Nasdaq bid
Nasdaq in for the long haul over LSE
Nasdaq hopes for LSE dimming
Nasdaq won’t raise LSE bid
Nasdaq blasts LSE top duo
LSE 250m to reject Nasdaq

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German GDP growth in the first quarter is expected to have slowed compared with the fourth quarter last year, as increases in value-added taxes curbed private consumer spending, the Bundesbank said in its monthly report.

“Growth in real GDP, in seasonal and calendar-adjusted terms, could have narrowed in line with expectations compared with the strong growth seen towards the end of 2006,” it said.

The Federal Statistics Office is due to release preliminary first quarter GDP figures on May 15.

In the fourth quarter last year, German GDP grew 0.9 pct in seasonally, price and calendar-adjusted terms compared with the third quarter.

The Bundesbank said latest indicators pointed to the continuation of economic recovery in the first quarter, with the major positive impulse coming from the industrial sector.

But with VAT increasing to 19 pct at the start of the year from 16 pct, private consumer spending declined — taking a toll particularly in the sales of retail and passenger car markets — “significantly” dampening GDP growth as a result, the central bank said.

It said a trend toward rising exports has been more than mitigaged by a stronger than expected rise in imports, resulting in a negative impact on GDP growth.

But investments, both for producer goods and construction, remained “lively”, while companies are stocking up their inventories, contributing further to growth.

marilyn.gerlach@thomson.com

mog/vs

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