World number one and top seed Rafa Nadal will launch his US Open campaign against Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili after the singles draw for the last grand slam of the year was made at Flushing Meadows on Thursday.
Five-time champion and second seed Roger Federer was drawn to face Argentina's Brian Dabul ahead of a tricky path to a seventh straight final.
The Swiss master could meet former champion Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, Sweden's Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals and Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Djokovic, the 2007 US Open runner-up and 2008 Australian Open champion, faces his countryman Viktor Troicki first up.
Britain's Andy Murray, a runner-up in New York two years ago and in Australia earlier this season, is in the same half of the draw as Nadal. Murray's first opponent is Slovakia's Lukas Lacko.
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, who was promoted to top seed in the women's draw after world number one Serena Williams withdrew because of injury, will begin her bid for a first grand slam title against American wildcard Chelsey Gullickson.
Wozniacki, who was runner-up in New York last year, faces a tantalizing fourth-round showdown with Russia's former champion Maria Sharapova while Serbia's Jelena Jankovic looms as a possible semifinal opponent in the top half of the draw.
Jankovic's first round match is against Romania's Simona Halep.
Last year's women's champion, Belgian Kim Clijsters, will start her title defense against Hungarian Greta Arn.
The second seed could meet Australia's French Open finalist Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals and possibly Venus Williams, a two-time US Open champion, in the semifinals after the American was drawn to play Italian Roberta Vinci first up.
Italy's French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, the sixth seed, was drawn in the same quarter as Williams.
Schiavone plays Japan's Ayumi Morita in the first round.
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