Nadal to begin U.S. Open title bid against qualifier

By Simon Cambers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top seed Rafael Nadal will begin his bid for a first U.S. Open title next week against a qualifier, after the draw was made at The TimesCenter in New York on Thursday.

The Spaniard, who on Monday ended Roger Federer's four-and-a-half year reign at the top of the world rankings, is looking to win his third grand-slam title of the year, having triumphed at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Should the seedings go to plan, Nadal will face 13th seed Ivo Karlovic in the fourth round, with a potential quarter-final against seventh seed David Nalbandian.

Second seed Federer, bidding to emulate American 1920s hero Bill Tilden by winning the title for five straight years, opens his campaign against world number 114 Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina.

The Swiss could play third seed Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, a repeat of last year's final, while Nikolay Davydenko would be his seeded opponent in the last eight.

Djokovic, who won his first grand-slam title at the Australian Open at the start of this year, plays Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the first round.

In the women's event, top seed and world number one Ana Ivanovic, looking to add a first U.S. Open crown to her French Open title, begins against Russian Vera Dushevina.

Should the seedings go to plan, she would face French Open runner-up and Olympic silver medalist Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, she would play the winner of the blockbuster clash between sisters Venus and Serena Williams, a repeat of their Wimbledon final this year, won by Venus.

Her fellow Serbian and second seed Jelena Jankovic takes on American wildcard Coco Vandeweghe in round one and is drawn to meet eighth seed Vera Zvonareva in the last eight.

Olympic champion and fifth seed Elena Dementieva was placed in the easier-looking bottom half of the draw.

The Russian could play third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat her in the 2004 final and was runner-up at Flushing Meadows last year, in the quarter-finals.

Neither last year's champion Justine Henin, nor Maria Sharapova, the former champion and the winner this year in Australia, are competing.

Henin retired from the sport in May while Russian Sharapova pulled out because of injury.

(Editing by Clare Fallon)