John Higgins admits the draw has not been kind to him as he prepares to defend his 888.com World Championship title next month.
The Scottish cueman will face former finalist Matthew Stevens in the first round of this season's showcase tournament at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
"There are no easy draws but Matthew is one of the toughest players I could have got," said the two-time world champion.
"We've had some cracking matches over the years; I beat him 17-15 in the semi-finals in 2001, then the next year he thrashed me 13-7 in the quarters.
"I've got five or six weeks of solid practice now to get myself ready. I can't wait for the tournament, I'd love to defend my title.
"I can take a lot of positives from last year, I'm just hoping I can repeat the form I showed last year," added the Scot.
"But it's too tough a match to call. We've had some good battles down the years. I'm sure he'll be looking forward to the match, it's probably one of the picks of matches from the draw."
Last season's beaten finalist Mark Selby, the form player on the circuit, will play Romford left-hander Mark King in his opening match.
King ended Jimmy White's hopes of making the tournament with a convincing 10-3 victory in the final round of qualifying at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Monday.
But Selby, winner of the Masters and Welsh Open crowns already this season, is determined to go one step further this year and claim his first Crucible crown.
Crowd favourite and two-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan faces an intriguing test in his first-round match having drawn 17-year-old Liu Chuang.
Chuang shocked Welshman Dominic Dale 10-9 in Monday's qualifiers to become only the fourth 17-year-old to reach the Crucible.
"I'm very excited because Ronnie was my idol when I first started playing snooker at the age of 10," said Chuang, who lost 5-1 to O'Sullivan at last season's Honghe Industrial China Open.
"I like the way he plays but I will be nervous when I go into the arena with him."
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry faces a difficult opener against Belfast potter Mark Allen, while six-time winner Steve Davis plays fellow Essex professional Stuart Bingham.
Ken Doherty, a world champion in 1997, plays another Chinese qualifier, Liang Wenbo. Wenbo dumped out former Crucible semi-finalist Ian McCulloch in the final round of qualifying.
Ding Junhui, China's leading player, will play Hong Kong potter Marco Fu in a match that is likely to attract a large TV audience back in China.
Peter Ebdon, the 2002 world champion, faces Stoke young gun Jamie Cope in his opening match, while Australian ace Neil Robertson, twice a ranking-event winner last season, takes on golden oldie Nigel Bond.
Two-time winner Mark Williams faces Sussex cueman Mark Davis, while 2005 champion Shaun Murphy will play Stoke's Dave Harold.
First-round draw:
John Higgins v Matthew Stevens
Ryan Day v Michael Judge
Ding Junhui v Marco Fu
Stephen Hendry v Mark Allen
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Liu Chuang
Mark Williams v Mark Davis
Stephen Lee v Joe Swail
Ken Doherty v Liang Wenbo
Shaun Murphy v Dave Harold
Ali Carter v Barry Hawkins
Mark Selby v Mark King
Peter Ebdon v Jamie Cope
Neil Robertson v Nigel Bond
Stephen Maguire v Anthony Hamilton
Steve Davis v Stuart Bingham
Graeme Dott v Joe Perry
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