New York: Leander Paes, who ended his title drought this season with the Winston Salem title, will kick-start his US Open campaign with Czech partner Radek Stepanek against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.

Paes had won Winston Salem title with Canadian Daniel Nestor but will play the US Open with regular partner Stepanek. They have been seeded fourth.

Paes can look forward to an easy start since his opponents are unseeded, and if Paes-Stepanek gets past the first round, they will have another unseeded pair to face in the second round.

Their second-round opponents will be either Kenny De Schepper-Victor Hanescu or Daniel Brands-Philipp Oswald.

Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin have been seeded sixth and they face the American pair of Bradley Klahn and Sam Querrey, also unseeded, in their opening match.

Mahesh Bhupathi has teamed up with German Philipp Petzschner and they have been pitted against the Canadian combo of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil. Bhupathi and Petzschner may face top-seeded and title contenders Americans Mike and Bob Bryan in the pre-quarterfinals.