Andy Murray will start his latest bid for a grand slam against Russia's Alex Bogomolov in the first round of the US Open.
Murray faces Russia in first round at Flushing Meadows
Andy Murray will start his latest bid for a grand slam success against Russia's Alex Bogomolov in the first round of the US Open in New York - where he was also placed in Roger Federer's half of the draw.
Murray is seeded three for the final slam of the year after Rafael Nadal pulled out with injury, but he will still face a possible semi-final clash with Federer and final date with Novak Djokovic to finally end his major drought.
The Olympic champion has played Bogomolov three times previously, with the Russian taking first blood at last year's Miami Masters before Murray took the next two.
Murray made a huge step up when claiming Olympic gold at Wimbledon by battering Federer in the five-set final, but his route to US Open glory will be as tough as ever with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a possible quarter-final opponent.
World number one Federer has what looks a simple starter against American Donald Young, who had lost 17 straight matches before beating Leonardo Mayer in the first round of the Winston Salem event last week.
Fed half
For the first time since the 2010 French Open, Murray finds himself in the same half of a grand slam draw as Federer, who he has previously only met in three finals, all of them won by the Swiss.
The third seed's path starts off fairly smoothly, with Bogomolov to be followed by either Croatia's Ivan Dodig or a qualifier then probably Spain's 30th seed Feliciano Lopez, who Murray has beaten in all of their six meetings.
Defending champion and world number two Djokovic could face former winner Juan Martin Del Potro in what would be a tough quarter-final, but the Argentine has been given the pick of the first round ties against compatriot David Nalbandian.
David Ferrer would then await in the semi-finals with the Spaniard moving up to fourth seed and receiving what could be the easiest quarter-final draw against Janko Tipsarevic.
Second seed Djokovic meets Italy's Paolo Lorenzi first up while Ferrer, elevated into the top four seeds because of the absence of his injured fellow Spaniard Nadal, takes on giant South African Kevin Anderson.
Djokovic saw off Nadal in the final 12 months ago to win his first title in New
York, and he said: "Obviously I have the best memories from last year. It was a
remarkable seven months of my career."
