Novak Djokovic got the luck of the draw in Rafael Nadal’s injury-forced absence with Roger Federer and Andy Murray set to meet in the semifinals of the 2012 US Open.
The draw for the Flushing Meadows event was completed on Thursday, with the Serbian five-time grand slam champion avoiding Wimbledon winner Federer and Olympic gold medallist Murray.
Djokovic has been drawn to face Italian Paolo Lorenzi in the first round, while Federer meets out-of-form local Donald Young straight up with Murray to take on Russian Alex Bogomolov Jnr.
“It was really hard to try to bounce back from an emotional loss at the Olympics,” Djokovic told reporters at the ceremony. “Every player has a look at the draw, in detail.
“But I think there are 128 very motivated players here so you can’t take anything for granted, even in the early rounds, when you are favourite to win.”