U.S. Open draw 2016 announced: Serena Williams has tough opener; Andy Murray to face Lukas Rosol

The final tennis Grand Slam of 2016 is set to get underway in New York, as the US Open will be played hot on the heels of an exciting Summer Olympics that saw Andy Murray and Monica Puig win the men’s and women’s singles gold medals. On Friday, the draw for the US Open was held and there are some big matches on the horizon.

Both Murray and Puig will be looking at winning big in this upcoming tournament, though there are a lot more expectations for Murray, who will be the second seed. Murray has a first-round match against Lukas Rosol and could face the tough Juan Monaco in the second round. Puig, who is unseeded for the tournament, will match up with Saisai Zheng after the draw.

Puig, though, is definitely one to watch after upsetting every single player she came across in the Olympics before prevailing over Angelique Kerber in the finals. Puig could meet Garbine Muguruza in the third round, a player that was favored over her but who Puig completely dominated, 6-1, 6-1, in Rio.

Kerber, also, is one to keep an eye on because there is a chance that she can unseat Serena Williams as the top-ranked women’s player in the world.

Kerber had a chance in Cincinnati after the Olympics, but she came up short of unseating Williams. If Kerber makes the quarterfinals, Williams will need to reach the final to keep her top spot. Agnieszka Radwanska and Muguruza could also earn the top spot depending on where Williams finishes. This is significant given Williams would tie the WTA record for consecutive weeks on top of the rankings ... held by Steffi Graf with 186.

Chasing Graf has been a theme for Williams lately, as she earned her 22nd Grand Slam singles win to tie Graf’s record in the Open Era.

In the opening round of the US Open, Williams will face the tough Ekaterina Makarova, a matchup that was a semifinal in this same tournament back in 2014. Kerber drew Polona Hercog in the first round but could face the tough Alize Cornet in the second round.

Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic will face Jerzy Janowicz in the opening round. Rafael Nadal was drawn in the top half with Djokovic, while Stan Wawrinka and Murray are in the other half.

Juan Martin Del Potro is also unseeded after taking the silver medal at the Olympics. Del Potro won the US Open back in 2009 but his career has been up and down since then. Del Potro will have high expectations now though, and he has a great draw, going up against Diego Schwartzman in the third quarter.

Del Potro will be happy he doesn’t have a top seed to face, but then again, maybe those top seeds are happy they’re avoiding him in the opening round. Del Potro is in the same quarter as Wawrinka, which should be interesting. Potential quarterfinal matchups include Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic, Nadal vs. Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori vs. Murray and Dominic Thiem vs. Wawrinka, so the bracket is looking plenty exciting.

Radwanska is in the top half of the women’s draw with Williams, while both Kerber and Muguruza are in the bottom half. The official draw isn’t posted on the US Open website yet, but Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times has pictures of both the men’s and women’s draws.