Ashleigh Barty will avoid facing any top 10 seeds in the early rounds of the US Open, while fellow Australian John Millman faces an opening blockbuster against Rafael Nadal.
Barty has been handed a seemingly easier draw at next week’s grand slam with the only top 10 seeds on her side of the split Karolina Pliskova, Serena Williams, Madison Keys and Elina Svitolina.
The world No.2, who faces Kazakh Zarina Diyas in her opening match, won’t face any big guns until a potential match-up with Williams in the quarter-finals.
However, there is the possibility of a tough match with world No.14 Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.
If Barty prevails in the last eight she could face world No.3 Pliskova or Svitolina or Keys in the semi-finals.
On the same side of the draw, Samantha Stosur faces Alexandrova Ekaterina in the first round, while fellow Australian Daria Gavrilova will take on Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro.
Big guns Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Kiki Bertens, Petra Kvitova and Aryna Sabalenka are all on the other side of the draw.
Australian Astra Sharma will face Poland’s Magda Linette in her opener before a second-round test with world No.1 Osaka, while compatriot Alja Tomljanovic plays Czech Marie Bouzkova.
In the men’s draw, Millman has been given the nightmare of facing the world No.2 Nadal in his opener.
The 30-year-old will likely be hoping to draw on his experience after his quarter-final victory over Roger Federer in last year’s US Open.
But the reigning French Open champion is likely to present the Australian with a much tougher opponent this time around.
Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios plays American Steve Johnson in the first round before a potential fourth-round clash with friend and world No.8 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Kyrgios’ next potential top 10 opponent would be world No.4 Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals before a potential semi-final match with either Nadal, world No.6 Alexander Zverev or world No.9 Karen Kachanov.
Alex de Minaur faces Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round with a possible third-round match against world No.7 Kei Nishikori and then, if he gets that far, a potential quarter-final with Roger Federer.
Australian Jordan Thompson plays Portgual’s Joao Sousa first up while compatriot Alexei Popyrin is up against Argentine Federico Delbonis.
Wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis is drawn with a qualifier in his opener before he will play either fellow Australian Millman or Nadal in the second round.
