Ashleigh Barty has been handed a soft draw at the US Open, while fellow Australian John Millman will face an opening-round blockbuster against Rafael Nadal.

Barty has been handed a seemingly easier draw at next week’s grand slam with the only top 10 seeds on her side of the split being Karolina Pliskova (3), Serena Williams (8), Madison Keys (10) and Elina Svitolina (5).

The world No.2, who faces Kazakh Zarina Diyas in her opening match, won’t face any big guns until a potential match-up with Williams in the quarter-finals.

However, there is the possibility of a tough match with world No.14 Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.

If Barty prevails in the last eight she could face Pliskova or Svitolina or Keys in the semi-finals.

On the same side of the draw, Samantha Stosur faces Alexandrova Ekaterina in the first round, while fellow Australian Daria Gavrilova will take on Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro.

Big guns Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Kiki Bertens, Petra Kvitova and Aryna Sabalenka are all on the other side of the draw.

Australian Astra Sharma will face Poland’s Magda Linette in her opener with reward for the winner being a second-round meeting with world No.1 Osaka, while compatriot Alja Tomljanovic plays Czech Marie Bouzkova.

In the men’s draw, Millman drew the short straw by facing world No.2 Nadal in his opener.

The 30-year-old will have to draw on his experience at last year’s tournament after his last 16 victory over Roger Federer.

But the reigning French Open champion is likely to present the Australian with a much tougher opponent this time around.

Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios plays American Steve Johnson in the first round before a potential fourth-round clash with friend and eighth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Kyrgios’ next potential top 10 opponent would be fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals before a potential semi-final match with either Nadal, world No.6 Alexander Zverev or world No.9 Karen Kachanov.

Alex de Minaur faces Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round with a possible third-round match against seventh seed Kei Nishikori and then, if he gets that far, a potential quarter-final with third seed Roger Federer.

Alex de Minaur will try to keep his improvement going at the US Open. Photo: Getty

Australian Jordan Thompson plays Portugal’s Joao Sousa first up while compatriot Alexei Popyrin is up against Argentine Federico Delbonis.

Wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis is drawn with a qualifier in his opener before he will play either fellow Australian Millman or Nadal in the second round.

The biggest first round match up will be veteran stars Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

It will be their first meeting at Flushing Meadows, where Williams, 37, won her first grand slam title 20 years ago.

Williams, seeded eighth, has won 23 grand slam titles – the last at the Australian Open in 2017.

That compares with five for Sharapova, 32, whose last grand slam win was at the 2014 French Open.

Williams holds a 19-2 record over Sharapova, who last year reached the round of 16 at the US Open.

Sharapova defeated Williams in their last meeting, a round-of-16 pairing at the 2018 French Open.

AUSTRALIANS IN THE US OPEN FIRST ROUND:

WOMEN

2-Ashleigh Barty v Zarina Diyas (KAZ)

Samantha Stosur v Alexandrova Ekaterina (RUS)

Daria Gavrilova v Fiona Ferro (FRA)

Alja Tomljanovic v Marie Bouzkova (CZE)

Astra Sharma v Magda Linette (POL)

MEN

28-Nick Kyrgios v Steve Johnson (USA)

John Millman v 2-Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Alex de Minaur v Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)

Jordan Thompson v Joao Sousa (POR)

Alexei Popyrin v Federico Delbonis (ARG)

Thanasi Kokkinakis v qualifier

* (prefix denotes seeding)

-with AAP