Rafael Nadal [ Images ] begins his quest for an Olympic [ Images ] gold medal against Italian Potito Starace, while top seed Roger Federer [ Images ] faces a tough opener against Russia's [ Images ] Dmitry Tursunov [ Images ] after the draw for the tennis event on Thursday.

• Sania gets tough draw

In the women's singles, top seed Ana Ivanovic [ Images ] of Serbia meets Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva. Compatriot and second seed Jelena Jankovic [ Images ] is up against Cara Black [ Images ] of Zimbabwe.

Wimbledon [ Images ] and French Open [ Images ] champion Nadal of Spain, who will overtake Federer as world number one on Aug. 18, appears to have the tougher half of the 64-strong draw which also includes Serbian Novak Djokovic [ Images ] and in-form Briton Andy Murray [ Images ].

Third seed Djokovic plays Robby Ginepri of the U.S. Wimbledon champion Venus Williams [ Images ] plays Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland [ Images ] while sister Serena plays Olga Govortsova of Belarus.

The tournament starts on Sunday.