MELBOURNE, Jan 14 - Roger Federer will take centre stage at the Australian Open on Tuesday when he begins the defence of his title under the lights at Melbourne Park. The Swiss world number one and top seed, chasing his 13th grand slam crown, completes the night session on Rod Laver Arena against Argentine Diego Hartfield, the world number 107. A stomach virus disrupted Federer's preparations for the first grand slam event of the year, but the top seed is confident he will cope at the start of his bid for a third successive Australian Open title. "I'm very much used to it, not playing for four weeks or six weeks and then coming in and playing a big tournament, so for me it's not much of a change," Federer said. Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova are also in action on day two. Eighth seed Williams takes on Yan Zi of China, while Kuznetsova plays former Australian Open semi-finalist Nathalie Dechy of France. On the men's side, third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia kicks off the action on Rod Laver Arena with a first-round match against German Benjamin Becker. Former champion Marat Safin, Australian Lleyton Hewitt and women's sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze are other big names in action.
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