Australian Open: Seedings as expected

Roger Federer and Justine Henin have been named as top seeds for next week's Australian Open.

There were few surprises in Thursday's list, which was based on the world rankings.

Spain's Rafael Nadal, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, Russia's Nikolay Davedenko and Spain's David Ferrer round out the top five in the men's draw.

Belgian Henin is followed by Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serbian pairing Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic while Russia's Maria Sharapova is ranked fifth.

Women's champion Serena Williams, who was unseeded last year but beat Sharapova in the final, has been seeded seventh, one place ahead of her sister Venus, who won last year's Wimbledon.

American James Blake benefited from the withdrawal of Germany's Tommy Haas due to injury to move up to 12th in the seedings.

Argentina's Guillermo Canas, who withdrew with a wrist injury, was the only other player in the world's top 32 absent among the seeds.

All of the world's top 32 women have been seeded.

The draw for the season's first grand slam tournament will be held on Friday.