Australian youngster Ashleigh Barty will face world No.1 Serena Williams in the opening round of the Australian Open.

While it’s a tough task for Barty, other Australian women fared better in Friday’s draw.

Australia’s only seeded player, Samantha Stosur, the 17th seed, will meet Czech Klara Zakopalova – the same player she faces in the Hobart International semi-finals on Friday.

Stosur is drawn to potentially meet Serb 14th seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round, if she wins her first two matches.

Fellow Australian Casey Dellacqua will start her tournament against Russian Vera Zvonareva, a former world No.2 on the comeback trail from a long injury absence.

Jarmila Gajdosova plays German ninth seed Angelique Kerber, while Storm Sanders meets Italian Camila Giorgi and Olivia Rogowska will take on Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino.

In the men’s draw, Australia’s Bernard Tomic also received a horror draw, up against world No.1 Rafael Nadal.

Nadal missed last year’s Open with a knee injury, but the 2009 champion finished 2013 in superb form, amassing 10 titles for the season.

In-form veteran Lleyton Hewitt didn’t fare quite as badly as Tomic, but still faces a tough first-round match against Italian 24th seed Andreas Seppi.

Australian wildcard entrant James Duckworth also has an extremely tough opening encounter, facing 17-time grand slam title winner Roger Federer.

Another Australian, Marinko Matosevic, also drew a tough opponent, Japan’s 16th seed Kei Nishikori.

The winner of that match could potentially face Hewitt in the third round.

Former world No.1 Boris Becker, now coach of defending champion Novak Djokovic, said the Nadal-Tomic clash would be a must-watch encounter.

“There is never an easy match, but Bernard is playing well in Australia, against the No.1 player in the world, it will be something everyone is glued on television to,” Becker said.