Will Federer have the stomach for a title run?

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Has the severe stomach virus that hindered Roger Federer’s Australian Open preparation given hope to mere mortals, known as the rest of the tour?

“I will tell you in two weeks,” said No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal.

Federer’s march toward history -- he is two short of tying Pete Sampras’ record 14 Grand Slam tournament titles -- will continue with a first-round match Tuesday against Diego Hartfield of Argentina to start the Australian Open. Tournament officials gave Federer, who will be aiming for his third straight title and fourth overall here, a bit of an assist by giving him a start on Day 2.

He pulled out of a local exhibition a few days ago because of the virus. But he was able to hit on the main show court at Melbourne Park for about an hour and half Saturday night, testing the new surface, according to his agent Tony Godsick.

“He is slowly getting better,” Godsick said. “Certainly not the best way to prepare for a Slam, but he has been doing everything he can to get over it.”

Federer’s second-round match could be a trickier proposition, against either Fabrice Santoro of France or American John Isner. The hard-serving Isner won a set against Federer at the U.S. Open, one of only two sets Federer lost last year in New York. And Santoro is a player who can create trouble for even the healthiest of players.

-- Lisa Dillman

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Australian Open seeds

Top 32 seeds for the Australian Open, which begins today and runs through Jan. 27:

1. Roger Federer, Switzerland

2. Rafael Nadal, Spain

3. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

4. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia

5. David Ferrer, Spain

6. Andy Roddick, United States

7. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile

8. Richard Gasquet, France

9. Andy Murray, Britain

10. David Nalbandian, Argentina

11. Tommy Robredo, Spain

12. James Blake, United States

13. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic

14. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia

15. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus

16. Carlos Moya, Spain

17. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia

18. Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina

19. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia

20. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia

21. Juan Monaco, Argentina

22. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain

23. Paul-Henri Mathieu, France

24. Jarkko Nieminen, Finland

25. Fernando Verdasco, Spain

26. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland

27. Nicolas Almagro, Spain

28. Gilles Simon, France

29. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany

30. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic

31. Igor Andreev, Russia

32. Dmitry Tursunov, Russi

WOMEN

1. Justine Henin, Belgium

2. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia

3. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia

4. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia

5. Maria Sharapova, Russia

6. Anna Chakvetadze, Russia

7. Serena Williams, United States

8. Venus Williams, United States

9. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia

10. Marion Bartoli, France

11. Elena Dementieva, Russia

12. Nicole Vaidisova, Czech Republic

13. Tatiana Golovin, France

14. Nadia Petrova, Russia

15. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland

16. Dinara Safina, Russia

17. Shahar Peer, Israel

18. Amelie Mauresmo, France

19. Sybille Bammer, Austria

20. Agnes Szavay, Hungary

21. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine

22. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic

23. Vera Zvonareva, Russia

24. Li Na, China

25. Francesca Schiavone, Italy

26. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus

27. Maria Kirilenko, Russia

28. Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenia

29. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland

30. Virginie Razzano, France

31. Sania Mirza, India

32. Julia Vakulenko, Ukraine