Nadal's pull-out leads to reshuffled draw

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - World number one and champion Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Wimbledon led to a major reshuffle in the men's draw on Friday.

The Spaniard, who won the title for the first time last year after a mesmeric five-set final against Roger Federer, pulled out after deciding his painful knees could not survive two weeks of best-of-five-set matches.

His spot on the top of the draw was taken by Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro, who had been in the lower half when the draw was initially made on Friday morning.

Del Potro will open his campaign against the world number 49 Arnaud Clement of France and could face 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt in the second round.

Hewitt would probably welcome the switch since when he last met Nadal in a competitive match -- in the third round of the French Open -- he won only five games.

French Open champion Federer, in pursuit of a record 15th grand slam title, will open his account against Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun.

However, he will have noted that he could run into Roland Garros runner-up Robin Soderling for the second time in less than a month in the last 16. Big-serving Croatian dangerman Ivo Karlovic lurks as a potential last-eight opponent.

American sixth seed Andy Roddick, twice a runner-up in London, was paired with Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and could face del Potro in the quarter-finals.