ESPN 2007 US Open

The story lines heading into last year's U.S. Open were obvious: final bows for Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova; Roger Federer's seemingly inexorable quest for a record-tying third straight title; the scramble to fill the void left by an absent Venus Williams; and a less-than-100 percent Serena Williams on the women's side.

Things aren't so cut-and-dried this time. Federer is once again the favorite, but he's shown more vulnerability this season than in the past three put together. No. 3 Novak Djokovic served notice that he's narrowing the gap by taking the Montreal title from the Swiss star two weeks ago.

Defending women's champion and world No. 2 Maria Sharapova, coming back from an early-season shoulder injury, has played well episodically. The Williams sibs, meanwhile, have won two of the year's three Slams so far. Both are in No. 1 Justine Henin's half of the bracket, along with Djokovic's two fellow Serbian stars, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

A few musings about the Open draw, released Wednesday:

First-round intrigue: Forget geopolitics when Serbia's Djokovic and unseeded Mario Ancic of Croatia face off -- they're close friends. Instead, remember what happened last time they played, when Ancic outlasted Djokovic in a five-setter in the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year. Ancic was a top-10 player at the time but a long injury hiatus and Djokovic's smashing breakthrough this year have reversed their roles. … Can perennial Open wild card Donald Young build on his first-ever ATP main draw win in New Haven this week by beating 6-foot-7-inch fellow lefty Chris Guccione of Australia? Speaking of Young, Amer Delic, Young's slumping victim at the Pilot Pen tournament, is still looking for a hard-court victory this summer, but he could have a tough time snapping his five-match losing streak against 16th seed Lleyton Hewitt.

Youth will serve: The bottom quarter of the women's draw is notably loaded with the 20-and-under starlets of the game, starting with Sharapova and including Russian Anna Chakvetadze, Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, Israel's Shahar Peer and a rejuvenated Sania Mirza of India.

Miss the Swiss Miss? If Martina Hingis were totally healthy, we think she'd sleepwalk her way through the unknowns and lower seeds in her part of the draw until a probable fourth-round clash with 2004 Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova. We'll see if Hingis' nagging hip injury allows her to kick back into gear.

Likely curtain calls: Great Britain's gallant grinder Tim Henman announced Thursday at a news conference in New York that he will call it quits after the Davis Cup world group playoff next month. Henman will have to get past charismatic Dmitry Tursunov of Russia to make more than a cameo appearance in what will be his last Grand Slam. … Justin Gimelstob, poised for retirement, said he couldn't have had a "better, classier opponent" than Andy Roddick when he fell in the first round of Wimbledon this summer. The tennis gods must have heard Gimelstob, because they repeated the favor and paired the two again.

More all-Americans: The women's draw features two intranational tilts in the first round so far (more could emerge pending the qualifying tournament results) -- Vania King will play Meghann Shaughnessy, and fashion revolutionary Bethanie Mattek will take on young hopeful Madison Brengle. … On the men's side, James Blake will try to get out of the blocks fast against Michael Russell.

Like they need the help: Both top seeds in the singles draws could play qualifiers in the first two rounds. Federer is guaranteed that soft landing, while WTA chart topper and 2003 Open winner Henin could get a qualifier in Round 2 if Russia's Olga Poutchkova succumbs and even in the third if some other cards fall right. Maybe the deck should have been shuffled a bit more.

Most potentially lopsided grudge match: a Henin-Marion Bartoli reunion in the quarterfinals. The Frenchwoman with the unconventional, two-handed style off both wings stunned Henin in the Wimbledon semis -- one of only four matches Henin has lost (against 43 wins) in 2007. The 10th-seeded Bartoli hasn't shown much on hard courts this summer and has never advanced past the third round at the Open.

But -- and this is a major but: To set that up, Bartoli probably would have to beat eighth seed Serena Williams, who landed in Henin's quarter for the third straight Slam.

Henin vs. Serbia: The Belgian is 9-0 against Jankovic (seven wins) and Ivanovic (two) combined.

Most potentially contentious early news conference: Russia's fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko has been professional in responding to questions about the gambling investigation focused on one of his matches, but dealing with the assertive, acerbic New York media may make him wish the session could be over in a New York minute.

Poetry in motion: We'd like to see Davydenko play Vince Spadea in the second round, not because we have a betting interest (they're even at three wins apiece in their career series), but to prod tennis' rap laureate into the creative exercise of coming up with something that rhymes with his opponent's name. Bingo, anyone?

Bonnie D. Ford is a frequent contributor who is covering the U.S. Open for ESPN.com.