US Open draw hands Murray major boost

ANDY Murray has been handed a kind draw on his return to grand slam tennis after being paired with Australian James Duckworth in the US Open first round.

Murray is set to play his first major since Wimbledon 2017 and could have been drawn against any of the top seeds, but landed world No 445 Duckworth.

The Scot, who won the US Open in 2012, is only seven matches back from a hip injury that derailed his career for almost a year.

Duckworth, like Murray, has got into the main draw using his protected ranking after also suffering from injury.

British No 1 Kyle Edmund has been drawn against unseeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi.

Edmund, the No 16 seed, has never got past the fourth round at Flushing Meadows and is on course for a fourth round meeting with Rafael Nadal.

British No 2 Cameron Norrie is also up against an Australian in Jordan Thompson.

Defending champion Nadal opens up against compatriot David Ferrer, while No 2 seed and five-time champion Roger Federer begins his pursuit of a first title since 2008 against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. Novak Djokovic is a potential quarter-final opponent for the Swiss.

Djokovic, who won Wimbledon last month, starts against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.

The women’s draw has not been so kind to Johanna Konta, who will face No 6 seed Caroline Garcia in the first round.

Konta has paid the price for her ranking plummeting after a poor year and is unseeded.

She is the only British woman in the draw, with Heather Watson and Katie Swan in qualifying.