Andy Murray admitted the draw for the Australian Open has been kind to him after he was today handed a potentially pain-free route to a semi-final against Rafael Nadal.

The draw put the No4 seed in the same half as the Spaniard but gave Murray an opening match against a player who has been out for a year with a back problem and a possible quarter-final against another who quit this week's Sydney event because of a similar injury.

Murray's first-round opponent is Romania's Andrei Pavel, who is ranked 1,140 because of his long absence from the tour. The 34-year-old has been as high as No13 in the world but that was back in October 2004 and he has only three minor singles titles to his name.

Waiting for Murray in the quarter-finals could be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the man who knocked the British No1 out of the first round in Melbourne last year. However, there is a real possibility the No5 seed will have to miss the opening Grand Slam of the year as he is being treated for a back problem suffered in Sydney this week.

“The draw is good and Pavel has been out for a long time with a back problem and may only have a couple more years in the game as he comes to the end of his career,” said Murray.

“I have to be ready right from the start and not get involved in too many long matches, which is important if you want to go deep into this slam.”

If Murray was to beat Nadal, then the seedings offer him a final against Roger Federer, a man he has beaten the last four times they have met — with two of those victories coming this month.

Although Murray is the in-form player, Federer said this week he was surprised that some bookmakers had made the Scot the Open favourite.

“I think Federer wants to be favourite,” said Murray. “I would probably give it to him because he has the best record of all the players here.”

While Federer aims to equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles, Murray is trying to become the first Briton to win one of the big four tournaments in 73 years.

He added: “A lot of guys have the potential to do well and the only thing I now want to do is win a first Grand Slam title and I have worked really hard to prepare for this tournament.

“I would love to win a Slam sooner or later but I will have a lot of opportunities in the future and I am not putting too much pressure on myself.”

Although Murray has done well from the draw there could still be some testing ties early on with a possible second-round clash against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili, who is No64 in the world, or Spain's Marcel Granollers, the No50.

That could be followed by a match with combative Austrian Jurgen Melzer, seeded 31, who came within two points of knocking Murray out at the same stage of last year's US Open.

Czech Radek Stepanek, seeded 22, or the dangerous Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who is No14, would then be on his radar but all of these players will be daunted by the task of taking on Murray.

Nadal starts against tricky Belgian Christophe Rochus while Federer begins against Andreas Seppi of Italy. The women's draw threw up difficult ties for Britain's two confirmed participants, Anne Keothavong and Melanie South. The former will take on Russian 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze, while South will face 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli.

But there could be further British interest in the main event after Elena Baltacha and Katie O'Brien both won their penultimate matches in the Melbourne qualifying tournament.

Further into the draw, top seed Jelena Jankovic could face a semi-final against either the third-seeded Dinara Safina or fifth-seed Ana Ivanovic, while the other last-four match could see yet another of the now familiar clashes between Venus and Serena Williams.