US Open draw: Andy Murray faces Tennys Sandgren, Johanna Konta draws Aleksandra Krunic

British number one Andy Murray will face American world number 104 Tennys Sandgren in the first round of the US Open, while Johanna Konta will play Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic.

Konta, whose opponent is ranked 77, could face Simona Halep in the quarter-finals, as she did at Wimbledon.

However, the Romanian world number two will have to overcome wildcard Maria Sharapova at the first hurdle.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are seeded to meet in the men’s semi-final.

Third seed Federer will start against American youngster Francis Tiafoe and new world number one Nadal faces world number 84 Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

British number two Kyle Edmund is up against Dutch veteran Robin Haase.

• British number five Cameron Norrie makes US Open main draw

The women’s defending champion, Germany’s Angelique Kerber, will take on Naomi Osaka of Japan but Stan Wawrinka, who beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, is one of several high-profile absentees, including Djokovic.

Wimbledon champion and world number three Garbine Muguruza of Spain will play Varvara Lepchenko of the US.

Halep v Sharapova the tie of the opening round

Sharapova will play in a Grand Slam for the first time since the Australian Open in 2016, where she gave the positive drugs test that put her out of the game for 15 months.

The US Open is the first Slam to award Sharapova, a former champion, a wildcard to the main draw since she returned from her ban.

Sharapova and second seed Halep, one of the title favourites, have played six times, including in the French Open final in 2014, with the Russian winning every time.

Elsewhere, Great Britain’s Heather Watson, who has suffered six consecutive first-round losses at the US Open, will attempt to end that streak against France’s Alize Cornet.

Top women’s seed Karolina Pliskova meets Poland’s Magda Linette,

Kind draw for Murray

Murray will test out the hip that troubled him during Wimbledon. The Scot has not played a match since his quarter-final exit at SW19, losing the world number one ranking to Nadal.

Sandgren, 26, only made his Grand Slam debut at the French Open this year, losing in the first round.

The first seed Murray is scheduled to meet is Argentine Diego Schwartzman in round three, with the likes of David Ferrer, Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga waiting after that.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Sharapova remains a big attraction, and the match is certain to feature under the lights in prime time on one of the opening two nights.

The Russian has only played one match in the past three and a half months as injuries have hindered her return from a doping ban, but has a flawless record against Halep.

Nadal and Federer have never met at the US Open. If they do so, it will be in the semi-finals, with Murray drawn in the other half with the likes of Alex Zverev and Tsonga.

The absence of Djokovic and Wawrinka makes life simpler for those three, but Murray hasn’t played since Wimbledon, Federer has been struggling with a back injury and Nadal is yet to hit top form on hard courts this summer.

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