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Murray, the No. 3 seed and newly minted Olympic gold medalist, was placed in Federer's half during Thursday's draw in Flushing Meadows. Play starts Monday.

"You do look at the whole draw and good draws from the first rounds on, but I'm not going there just to win the first round," Federer, the No. 1 seed and 17-time Major champion, said Sunday after winning an event in Mason, Ohio. "I'm going there to do very well and go very deep into the tournament. The focus needs to be on the first round and not beyond that in the beginning."

Federer, who will play American Donald Young in the first round, beat Murray in July for his record-tying seventh championship at the All England Club. Murray beat Federer this month on the same grass court for the gold medal.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic is the No. 2 seed and avoided a potential semifinal with Murray. He could face 2003 champion Andy Roddick, the No. 20 seed, or 2009 winner Juan Martin del Potro, No. 7, in the quarterfinals and No. 4 David Ferrer in the semis.

"The draw is something that you really cannot affect," Djokovic said here today. "It's a question of really luck. ... Thinking about semifinals in this moment I don't think is the best thing because it's a really long way. There's 128 very motivated players who want to perform their best.

"It's the last major of the year and I'm sure that we're going to have a good two weeks"

Rafael Nadal, who owns 11 Grand Slam titles and is ranked third, withdrew with knee trouble that has sidelined him since he lost in the second round of Wimbledon in late June.

This is the first U.S. Open since 2008 that doesn't have the quartet of Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal as the top four seeded men, in some order.

Federer, Djokovic and Nadal have won 29 of the last 30 Majors.

Possible women's quarterfinal matchups include top-seeded Victoria Azarenka vs. defending champion Sam Stosur; four-time major champion Maria Sharapova vs. 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova; and 14-time Grand Slam title winner Serena Williams vs. former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki; No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. No. 6 Angelique Kerber.

Williams' older sister, Venus, who is ranked 47th this week and not seeded, plays American wild-card entry Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round and could face Kerber in the second. Venus Williams, the 2000 and 2001 champion, pulled out of last year's U.S. Open hours before she was scheduled to play in the second round, revealing that she had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

Four-time major champion Kim Clijsters will begin what she says will be the last tournament of her career against American wild-card recipient Victoria Duval. Clijsters, a 29-year-old Belgian who is seeded 23rd, could face Stosur in the fourth round.

Clijsters won the U.S. Open the last three times she entered the hard-court tournament, in 2005, 2009 and 2010. She missed it last year because of a stomach muscle injury.

If she remains healthy and can avoid losing her cool like she did in the 2009 semifinals and 2011 final, when she exploded at officials and was subsequently fined, Serena Williams remains the overwhelming favorite to win her fourth U.S. Open.

She is planning on bringing seven dresses for seven potential matches, including the final.

"I will have my seven lined up," she said." Hopefully I'll get through them. That's my goal."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.