Roger Federer will begin his bid to equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles against Italian Andreas Seppi in the first round of the Australian Open next week.
Top seed Rafael Nadal, who snapped Federer's record 237-week stint as world number one last August, will meet Belgium's Christophe Rochus after the draw was made at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Champion Novak Djokovic was drawn to meet a qualifier in his opening match but if the seeds live up to their billing, he could be on another collision course with Federer in the semi-finals.
Fourth seed Andy Murray, tipped to end Britain's 73-year wait for a men's grand slam champion, was slotted into the same half of the draw as Nadal and will open his account against Romania's Andrei Pavel.
Federer will need to be on his guard if he is to win a fourth trophy in Melbourne since his path is littered with banana skins, including a potential second round match with former world number one Carlos Moya.
If he survives that test, Marat Safin could be his next opponent. The Russian beat the Swiss en route to the 2005 title.
Seventh seed Andy Roddick and Argentina's David Nalbandian, the 10th seed, could face off in an intriguing fourth round battle.
REUTERS
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