Roger Federer today claimed that taking Olympic gold would mean as much to him as winning Wimbledon.

The five- time SW19 champion also said he hopes to use the Games to rescue his season and identified Andy Murray as one of his biggest rivals for the men's singles crown. Federer is the top seed here but will lose his status as world No1 to Rafael Nadal when the new rankings are released on 18 August.

The Swiss lost to Nadal in this year's Wimbledon final and has since crashed out in the early rounds of tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Today he was drawn against Russia's Dmitry Tursunov in the first round and then revealed the true scale of his desire to claim a first Olympic gold.

Federer, whose 27th birthday coincides with tomorrow's opening ceremony, said: "It is one of my dreams to do well in an Olympics, it is something that is really important me. If I won, it would mean as much to me as a Wimbledon victory.

"I have been working really hard this year trying to come back from illness at the start. I wish it had paid off with bigger results, like winning Wimbledon - when I was only a few points away.

"That hurt but I am now over it. I know what people expect from me after my great last five years but I hope I can still save this season by winning the Olympics or the US Open."

Federer has been drawn in the opposite section to No2 seed Nadal who meets Italy's Potito Starace in the first round, which starts on Sunday.

In-form Murray, who claimed the biggest victory of his career by winning last week's Cincinnati Masters, takes on Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu.

Asked about the main contenders for gold, Federer said: "I think at the moment there are a number of guys playing well. Rafa obviously, Djokovic. Andy Murray did really well winning the other week.

"I always thought Andy was very talented and I expect him to do well here. There are a handful of favourites and I am obviously one of them as well."

Murray's opponent Lu is No74 in the world and has not progressed any further than the quarter-finals in ATP Tour events this season. Victory for Murray would set up a clash with Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic ahead of a possible quarterfinal with Nadal. The Scot, who arrived in Beijing today, is joining forces with brother Jamie for the men's doubles event and the pair will play Canada's Daniel Nestor and Frederick Niemeyer in the first round.

Women's top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia takes on Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva, while compatriot and second seed Jelena Jankovic faces Zimbabwe's Cara Black. Serena Williams of the USA could prove the biggest hurdle on Ivanovic's side of the draw, the American fourth seed plays Olga Govortsova of Belarus.