Melbourne: Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against world number 108 Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer face qualifiers in round one and could meet in the semi-finals.
Men's number four Andy Murray of Britain was paired with 84th-ranked Ryan Harrison of the US in yesterday's draw for the year's first Grand Slam event, which begins on Monday in Melbourne.
Djokovic and Murray are in the top half, ruling out a repeat of the 2011 final that the Serb won to spark a season in which he captured three of the four tennis majors.
"I was playing the best tennis of my life, especially in the opening six months of last season, and one of the strongest moments was in Australia," Djokovic said at the draw. "That's something that gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year."
Potential match-up
Number two-ranked Nadal of Spain and third-ranked Federer of Switzerland were selected in the same half of the draw at a major for the first time since the 2005 French Open, putting them on course for a potential semi-final match-up. They'll find out their first-round opponents after qualifying is completed.
The 2005 Australian Open final, won by Russia's Marat Safin, was the last time a player other than Djokovic, Nadal or Federer took the men's championship in Melbourne.
Djokovic, who also won the Australian Open in 2008 and is the bookmakers' favourite this year, is in line for a quarter-final match with Spanish number five seed David Ferrer, who reached the semi-finals last year. Ferrer defeated Djokovic in their most recent game at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Tough battle ahead for Wozniacki
World number one Caroline Wozniacki could face French Open champion Li Na in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open following yesterday's draw for the season-opening grand slam tournament.
The Danish top seed, whose world ranking is also under threat from Petra Kvitova, has defending champion Kim Clijsters, third seed Victoria Azarenka as well as the dangerous Agnieszka Radwanska in her top half of the women's singles draw.
Wozniacki is hunting a maiden grand slam title in Melbourne and opens her campaign for victory against Australian Anastasia Rodionova.
