Murray, Federer in same half of Open draw

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- No. 3-seeded and Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray has been placed in the same half of the U.S. Open men's draw as world No. 1 Roger Federer.

It was a given that Federer, as the world's top-ranked player, and defending Open champion Novak Djokovic, at No. 2 in the rankings, would be in the different halves of the bracket. But with third-ranked Rafael Nadal out with an injury, attention was turned to see where Murray would be placed.

U.S. Open officials Thursday put Murray in the top half along with Federer. The last two times they played there were big prizes at stake: Federer took a four-set decision in winning the Wimbledon championship and Murray blitzed Federer in straight sets in taking the Olympic gold.

Also in their half of the draw is fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Murray, and No. 6-seed Tomas Berdych, who is in Federer's quarter.

If the tournament plays to form, Djokovic would go against fourth-seeded David Ferrer. Djokovic has defeated Ferrer four of their last five meetings. No. 7-seeded Juan Martin del Porto, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, could play Djokovic in the quarterfinals while Janko Tipsarevic, the eighth seed, is in the same section as Ferrer.

The 2012 U.S. Open begins Monday and concludes Sept. 9 with the men's singles title match. It is the final Grand Slam event of 2012. In addition to Federer winning at Wimbledon, Djokovic took the Australian Open title and Nadal won the French Open this year.