Nadal to open Aussie bid against Daniel

MELBOURNE, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will open his try at a fourth consecutive major title with a match against 96th-ranked Marcos Daniel next week at the Australian Open.

Tournament officials released the draws for the year's first major tournament Friday, showing off a balanced men's bracket that has four Top 16 players in each quadrant. The seeds followed ATP rankings. The only Top 32 player not at Melbourne is No. 28 Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has a knee injury.

World No. 2 Roger Federer won the 2010 Australia Open but Nadal took the other three Grand Slam events last year and will be looking for the "Rafa Slam" at the Australian Open. He won the event in 2009 but lost in the quarterfinals last year.

Nadal is 2-0 against Daniel, his first-round foe in Melbourne.

If the draw plays out, Nadal's first Top 16 opponent would be No. 15 Marin Cilic in the fourth round. The other half of the top bracket features seventh-seeded David Ferrer and No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny.

Robin Soderling and Andy Murray, Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, would play in the quarters for the right to go against Nadal if the draw holds. Other key players in their section include No. 11 Jurgen Melzer and 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsongas.

Federer's section includes No. 8 Andy Roddick along with 12th-seeded Gael Monfils and No. 16 Mardy Fish. World No. 3 Novak Djokovic is in the bottom half of the draw's other quadrant along with Top 10 players Tomas Berdych (No. 6) and Fernando Verdasco (No. 9). No. 14 Nicolas Almagro is also in that part of the draw.

The Australian Open begins Monday and concludes with the men's singles final Jan. 30.