( CNN ) -- Some tennis players say they look deep into draws . Others claim they simply look at their next opponent . But one thing everyone agrees on is that draws can make all the difference . Take Wimbledon , for example . When organizers went against the world rankings and named Novak Djokovic as the top seed instead of Rafael Nadal , who was pushed down to No . 2 , it helped the former . Nadal 's early path was filled with hard-hitting , dangerous players and the Spaniard suffered yet another upset at the All England Club , losing to Australia 's Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round . Djokovic , meanwhile , had a less bumpy road to the second week and he stepped up his game in the final to top Roger Federer . Federer , of course , was n't such an easy draw for Djokovic , especially on grass . The two took part in a five-set classic and without an injured Nadal at the U.S. Open , they 'll be expected to meet in the final again in New York in a little over two weeks , despite a recent wobble from Djokovic . As the top two seeds , they were placed on opposite sides of the draw Thursday , with Djokovic appearing to land in the more difficult half . He could face 2012 champion Andy Murray or resurgent Rogers Cup winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals and either Stan Wawrinka or the big-serving Milos Raonic in the last four . Wawrinka upset Djokovic on the hard courts of the Australian Open in January and stretched Djokovic to five sets at the U.S. Open last year . Djokovic , like Murray , is n't in great form , having slumped at warm-up tournaments . Federer , going for an 18th major , might meet huge servers in the second and third rounds , Sam Groth and Ivo Karlovic , and the highest seed in his quarter is the man who has been compared to the Swiss , Grigor Dimitrov . In his half lie fourth seed David Ferrer -- Federer is 16-0 against the highest-ranked Spaniard at the tournament in Nadal 's absence -- and Tomas Berdych . Although Berdych has ousted Federer in two of their last three encounters , one at the U.S. Open in 2012 , he enters the event in poor form and confronts feisty Aussie Lleyton Hewitt in the first round . In the women 's draw , Ana Ivanovic surfaced in the same quarter as Serena Williams , who is trying to reach a grand slam quarterfinal for the first time this season . Williams crashed out early in Melbourne , Paris and London , but she beat Ivanovic to win the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last weekend . Also in her half are Wimbledon finalists Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard . Both have struggled since leaving the grass , yet in Bouchard 's case that might be due to injury . Whoever emerges from the fourth quarter will be the favorite to reach the final , and the leading contenders are Simona Halep , Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams . Sharapova trumped Halep in the French Open final and won another bruising contest in Cincinnati last week . Venus Williams is an elder stateswoman at 34 but her first-round foe , Japan 's Kimiko Date-Krumm , is even older at nearly 44 . The last time they met at a major , Venus Williams prevailed 8-6 in the third set at Wimbledon in 2011 .
Roger Federer plays his first-round match at the U.S. Open against Marinko Matosevic . World No . 1 Novak Djokovic begins against a young Argentine , Diego Schwartzman . Serena Williams starts against Taylor Townsend and is in Ana Ivanovic 's quarter . TL;DR