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Potential minefield for Novak

New York City - Top-ranked Novak Djokovic might meet Juan Martin Del Potro in the US Open quarter-finals, before a potential semi-final clash for the world number one against champion Andy Murray, while Rafael Nadal was drawn to potentially face Roger Federer in the quarters.

Seventh-seed Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner whose run of five US Open titles in a row was halted by Juan Martin Del Potro in the 2009 final, was Thursday drawn into the same quarter as second seed Nadal, a 12-time major winner who completed a career Slam with his 2010 US Open title.

The top-ranked potential semi-final rivals for either Spaniard Nadal or Swiss star Federer would be Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer or French eighth seed Richard Gasquet.

In the other half of the draw, Serbia's Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion and the 2011 US Open winner, has a tough path to the September 9 men's final that would include a last-eight matchup against Argentina's Del Potro.

Djokovic might then have a semi-final against defending champion and third seed Murray of Britain just to reach the final, with Wimbledon winner Murray's highest-ranked opponent in his quarter being Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych.

On the women's side, world number one and top seed Serena Williams could face eighth seed Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals and either Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Chinese fifth seed Li Na in the semi-finals.

Second seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova were drawn into the same quarter of the field with possible opponents in the semi-finals including Italian fourth seed Sara Errani, a 2012 US Open semi-finalist, and Danish sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Williams, who opens against Italy's former French Open winner Francesca Schiavone, could face US 15th seed Sloane Stephens in the fourth round and might meet sister Venus, a two-time US Open winner, in the quarter-finals.

Stephens defeated Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarter-finals back in January.

Two-time reigning Australian Open champion Azarenka, who opens against Germany's Dinah Pfizenmaier, has Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon winner, and Australian 11th seed Samantha Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, among her possible quarter-final foes.

Djokovic opens against Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis with a possible second-round match against German Benjamin Becker or Czech Lukas Rosol.

Del Potro opens against Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and could meet former US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the second round.

Murray's defending of his first Grand Slam title opens against Frenchman Michael Llodra with Romanian Victor Hanescu or Argentina's Leonardo Mayer his possible second-round opponents.

Spanish 15th seed Nicolas Almagro would be the Scotsman's highest-seeded potential rival in the fourth round.

Before Federer and Nadal could meet to decide a semi-final spot, they would have some work in the early rounds as well.

Nadal opens against US wildcard Ryan Harrison with Canada's Vasek Pospisil or a qualifier awaiting in round two and top US hope John Isner, the big-serving 13th seed, a possible fourth-round foe.

Federer opens against Slovenia's Grega Zemlja with a South American, Colombia's Santiago Giraldo or Argentina's Carlos Berlocq, awaiting in round two.

Japan's 11th-seeded Kei Nishikori is a possible Federer foe in the round of 16.

Men's first round draw for the US Open (x denotes seed):

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) v Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
Benjamin Becker (GER) v Lukas Rosol (CZE)
Lukasz Kubot (POL) v Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Joao Sousa (POR) v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x25)
Benoit Paire (FRA x24) v Alex Bogomolov (RUS)
Tim Smyczek (USA) v James Duckworth (AUS)
Jurgen Zopp (EST) v Marcel Granollers (ESP)
Rajeev Ram (USA) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x16)
Tommy Haas (GER x12) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)
David Goffin (BEL) v Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x21)
Jurgen Melzer (AUT x29) v Evgeny Donskoy (RUS)
Igor Sijsling (NED) v Qualifier
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) v Brian Baker (USA)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) v Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x6)
Andy Murray (GBR x3) v Michael Llodra (FRA)
Victor Hanescu (ROM) v Leonardo Mayer (ARG)
Qualifier v Martin Klizan (SVK)
Florian Mayer (GER) v Juan Monaco (ARG x28)
Andreas Seppi (ITA x20) v Xavier Malisse (BEL)
Lukas Lacko (SVK) v Qualifier
Tobias Kamke (GER) v Steve Johnson (USA)
Denis Istomin (UZB) v Nicolas Almagro (ESP x15)
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x9) v Radek Stepanek (CZE)
James Blake (USA) v Qualifier
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) v Qualifier
Daniel Brands (GER) v Kevin Anderson (RSA x17)
Julien Benneteau (FRA x31) v Michal Przysiezny (POL)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) v Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
Jiri Vesely (CZE) v Denis Kudla (USA)
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) v Tomas Berdych (CZE x5)
Richard Gasquet (FRA x8) v Michael Russell (USA)
Qualifier v Qualifier
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) v Guillaume Rufin (FRA)
Aljaz Bedene (SLO) v Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x32)
Feliciano Lopez (ESP x23) v Qualifier
Kenny De Schepper (FRA) v Bradley Klahn (USA)
Pablo Andujar (ESP) v Thiemo De Bakker (NED)
Qualifier v Milos Raonic (CAN x10)
Jerzy Janowicz (POL x14) v Qualifier
Jack Sock (USA) v Qualifier
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) v Dudi Sela (ISR)
Pablo Cuevas (URU) v Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x18)
Ernests Gulbis (LAT x30) v Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)
Qualifier v Qualifier
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) v Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
Qualifier v David Ferrer (ESP x4)
Roger Federer (SUI x7) v Grega Zemlja (SLO)
Santiago Giraldo (COL) v Carlos Berlocq (ARG)
Horacio Zeballos (ARG) v Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
Guido Pella (ARG) v Sam Querrey (USA x26)
Tommy Robredo (ESP x19) v Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
Robin Haase (NED) v Qualifier
Albert Ramos (ESP) v Bernard Tomic (AUS)
Qualifier v Kei Nishikori (JPN x11)
John Isner (USA x13) v Filippo Volandri (ITA)
Adrian Ungur (ROM) v Gael Monfils (FRA)
Albert Montanes (ESP) v Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
Colin Altamirano (USA) v Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x22)
Fernando Verdasco (ESP x27) v Ivan Dodig (CRO)
Rhyne Williams (USA) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Qualifier v Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
Ryan Harrison (USA) v Rafael Nadal (ESP x2)

Women's first round draw for the US Open (x denotes seed):

Serena Williams (USA x1) v Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) v Monica Niculescu (ROM)
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) v Olga Puchkova (RUS)
Qualifier v Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK x29)
Jamie Hampton (USA x23) v Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM) v Urszula Radwanska (POL)
Mandy Minella (LUX) v Sloane Stephens (USA x15)
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL x12) v Venus Williams (USA)
Kiki Bertens (NED) v Zheng Jie (CHN)
Qualifier v Qualifier
Lauren Davis (USA) v Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP x18)
Kaia Kanepi (EST x25) v Vania King (USA)
Stefanie Voegele (SUI) v Anna Schmiedlova (SVK)
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
Lucie Hradecka (CZE) v Angelique Kerber (GER x8)
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x3) v Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP) v Marina Erakovic (NZL)
Estrella Cabeza Candela (ESP) v Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
Virginie Razzano (FRA) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x32)
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS x24) v Polona Hercog (SLO)
Mathilde Johansson (FRA) v Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
Paula Ormaechea (ARG) v Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)
Qualifier v Sabine Lisicki (GER x16)
Jelena Jankovic (SRB x9) v Madison Keys (USA)
Monica Puig (PUR) v Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
Qualifier v Alexandra Cadantu (ROM)
Qualifier v Sorana Cirstea (ROM x19)
Laura Robson (GBR x30) v Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)
Caroline Garcia (FRA) v Shelby Rogers (USA)
Petra Cetkovska (CZE) v Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v Li Na (CHN x5)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x6) v Qualifier
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) v Qualifier
Jana Cepelova (SVK) v Qualifier
Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) v Klara Zakopalova (CZE x31)
Elena Vesnina (RUS x22) v Annika Beck (GER)
Karin Knapp (ITA) v Qualifier
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) v Lucie Safarova (CZE)
Timea Babos (HUN) v Roberta Vinci (ITA x10)
Maria Kirilenko (RUS x14) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Qualifier v Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)
Donna Vekic (CRO) v Mariana Duque-Marino (COL)
Heather Watson (GBR) v Simona Halep (ROM x21)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x27) v Mallory Burdette (USA)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)
Nicole Gibbs (USA) v Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
Ayumi Morita (JPN) v Sara Errani (ITA x4)
Petra Kvitova (CZE x7) v Misaki Doi (JPN)
Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) v Andrea Petkovic (GER)
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) v Alison Riske (USA)
Johanna Larsson (SWE) v Mona Barthel (GER x28)
Nadia Petrova (RUS x20) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Sachia Vickery (USA)
Maria Sanchez (USA) v Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
Qualifier v Samantha Stosur (AUS x11)
Ana Ivanovic (SRB x13) v Anna Tatishvili (GEO)
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) v Alexandra Dulgheru (ROM)
Julia Goerges (GER) v Christina McHale (USA)
Elina Svitolina (UKR) v Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x17)
Alize Cornet (FRA x26) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Qualifier
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v Vesna Dolonc (SRB)
Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER) v Victoria Azarenka (BLR x2)

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