Andy Murray faces an obstacle the size of the Great Wall of China in his quest for Olympic gold in Beijing. For the Scot will meet Rafael Nadal, the Wimbledon champion and new world No 1, in the quarter-finals of the Olympic competition, if he can make it through the first three rounds.

In spite of his astonishing run of victories this year and his unseating of Roger Federer as the top-ranked player in the world, Nadal has been seeded second behind the Swiss player, whom he defeated in the Wimbledon final last month.

The draw produced the prospect of a series of mouth-watering rivalries in the men’s competition. While Federer could have a relatively smooth passage to the final, both Murray and Nadal will have to play tough matches on their route to gold. Even if Murray can defeat Nadal, he could face Novak Djokovic, the No 3 seed and Australian champion, in the semi finals. But not only did Murray defeat Djokovic last weekend to win the Cincinatti Masters, the biggest victory of his career, but the Serb beat Nadal in the same tournament to end the Spaniard’s long run of success.

Murray opens his account against Yen-Hsun Lu, of Taipei, whom he has never played. Federer, who is temporarily world No 1 in spite of losing in the French and Wimbledon finals to Nadal, starts against the American-based Russian, Dimitry Tursonov, and has possible matches against Ivo Karlovic, who beat him last week in Cincinatti, or Tomas Berdych, the Czech who beat him at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

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Murray has a second chance of success in the men’s doubles with Jamie, his brother. They begin their quest for an Olympic medal against Daniel Nestor and Frederick Niemeyer of Canada.

In the women’s competition, Ana Ivanovic, the No 1 seed, opens her account against Maritya Moryttseva of the Ukraine. But all eyes will be on Jie Zheng, who set Wimbledon alight by becoming the first Chinese woman to reach a semi final at the All England Championships, losing to Serena Williams, who is seeded fourth in Beijing.