All eyes will be on Andy Roddick and Justine Henin-Hardenne on Tuesday as they begin the defence of their respective U.S. Open titles at Flushing Meadows.

Henin-Hardenne kicks off the day programme on Arthur Ashe Court when she takes on 15-year-old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, a title winner in Vancouver earlier this month in only her third WTA event.

Roddick rounds off the evening's schedule with a first-round encounter against American wildcard Scoville Jenkins.

Between those contests, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova will command most of the attention when she faces another American, Laura Granville.

Other highlights include former men's champion Marat Safin of Russia against Swede Thomas Enqvist, while Olympic champion Nicolas Massu is in action against Jose Acasuso of Argentina and fifth seed Tim Henman of Britain takes on Croatia's Ivo Karlovic.

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Second seed Roddick will be hoping to regain the form that took him to his first grand slam title at this event 12 months ago against Jenkins, who won the USTA Boys under-18 championships.

Belgian top seed Henin-Hardenne returned from a two-and-a-half month absence because of viral illness to win the Olympic gold medal in Athens 10 days ago.

Former champions Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport are also in action, against Petra Mandula of Hungary and Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia respectively.

The programme could be disrupted, however, with wind and rain forecast for the New York area on Tuesday.