Richard will start his 2008 season as the top seed at the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia.

With the Australian Open just days away though, the draw is a tough one, and in the first round Richard will play Igor Andreev.

The quality of the Sydney draw will provide excellent preparation for Richard as he fine tunes his game for the first Grand Slam of the year.

In Richard's half of the draw, other top seeds include James Blake, Fernando Verdasco and Paul-Henri Mathieu. Hewitt and Robredo lurk in the opposite half.

See the full singles draw.

In addition to singles, Richard is also teaming up with Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the doubles. In the first round they will face the Australian wildcard pairing of Guccione/Smeets.