Henman has been seeded 10th in Indian Wells

The Briton, seeded ninth, has a bye in the first round and is in the same quarter of the draw as out-of-form world number six Rainer Schuettler.

Henman said he still faced a tough task at the event, which begins on Friday.

"With so many good players here, there's nowhere to hide in the draw," he said. "Everybody wants to do well because of the size of the event."

Henman faces Felix Mantilla or a qualifier in the second round and is seeded to meet world number three Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals.

However, Roddick must first survive a potential third-round match against Australian Open finalist Marat Safin.

Lleyton Hewitt's chances of capturing his third straight title in Indian Wells diminished when the Australian was drawn in the same quarter as world number one Roger Federer.

The pair, who last played each other in the Australian Open which Federer went onto win, are set to meet in the last eight.

"Roger's definitely playing with a lot of confidence," said Hewitt.

"But the last time we played in Australia, I played really well in the first set and a half, and always felt like I had chances in the fourth.

"I've had a good year so far, I'm hitting the ball well and looking forward to doing well here."

The winner of that match will go on to a possible semi-final against Andre Agassi.