ANDY Murray may have to overcome an earlier than expected clash with Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal if he is to realise his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
Nadal, who will wrest the world No 1 position from Roger Federer later this month, could await in the quarter-finals after yesterday's tournament draw.
The Spaniard has beaten Murray in all five of their previous meetings, including three victorie
s – in Germany, Canada and Wimbledon respectively – this year.
But the sixth-seeded Scot's first focus will be on Chinese Tapei's Yen-Hsun Lu, the world No 74 whom he will take on in his first round match on Monday.
If Murray is successful he will face either Ivan Ljubicic or Agustin Calleri in round two, followed by a possible meeting with ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka.
Second seeded Nadal starts against Potito Starace of Italy before a possible second round meeting with Lleyton Hewitt. Top seed Roger Federer will open against Dmitry Tursunov.
Federer could play Tomas Berdych, the man who beat him in Athens four years ago, in the third round of the 64-strong draw as he seeks his first Olympic medal.
Murray will also begin his doubles campaign with brother Jamie on Monday and has been handed one of the toughest assignments possible. The Murrays will face Canadian pair Daniel Nestor and Frederic Niemayer in the first round.
Nestor is the current world No 1-ranked doubles player and the current Wimbledon champion with regular partner Nenad Zimonjic.
Women's top seed Ana Ivanovic faces Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva in the first round while fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic opens against Cara Black of Zimbabwe.
Americans Venus and Serena Williams are in opposite halves and will be favourites to progress for a repeat of their clash in the Wimbledon final.
Serena, seeded four, meets Olga Govortsova of Belarus in the first round while Wimbledon champion Venus, seeded seven, starts against Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.
China's Wimbledon semi- finalist Zheng Jie meets 11th seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary.
Maria Sharapova withdrew from the event due to a shoulder injury.
The full article contains 356 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
