Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have all been placed in the same quarter of the draw for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Tuesday’s draw ceremony produced a hugely-loaded section which also includes Juan Martin Del Potro, Nick Kyrgios, Alexander Zverev and British number three Kyle Edmund, who will play Djokovic in the second round if he beats Gastao Elias.
Top seed Andy Murray, who is in the opposite half, is a major beneficiary.
The world number one will open his title bid against Yen-Hsun Lu or a qualifier. If the seedings play out he will face Feliciano Lopez, Roberto Bautista Agut, the in-form Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and US Open champion Stan Wawrinka en route to the final.
Indian Wells is one of just two Masters 1000 tournaments Murray is yet to win in his career, the other being Monte Carlo.
Back in the bottom half, ninth seed Federer and fifth seed Nadal could play a repeat of their Australian Open final in the last 16. If they do so, it will be their earliest meeting in a tournament since 2004. Federer, who won January's Melbourne clash in five thrilling sets, will start against Stephane Robert or Dudi Sela, while Nadal takes on Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Guido Pella.
Any Federer-Nadal winner could face three-time defending champion Djokovic in the quarter-finals, although the Serb may first have to negotiate a third-round meeting with Del Potro.
As fourth seed, Kei Nishikori is the man seeded to play Djokovic in the last four.
British number two Dan Evans is a possible second-round foe for Nishikori. He will first have to defeat Dustin Brown, a player he beat in Dubai recently.
Prior to the draw, Richard Gasquet withdrew due to “medical reasons”, joining Milos Raonic on the sidelines.
The men’s action gets under way in California on Thursday but the women’s draw begins 24 hours earlier.
Briton Heather Watson will be among those in action on the opening day. She takes on Nicole Gibbs at 1900 GMT on Wednesday. The winner will face British number one Johanna Konta in round two.
Serena Williams, however, will not feature in Indian Wells. She withdrew on Tuesday citing a left knee injury.
