Favorable Draw for Sisters

Venus and Serena Williams, who met in an emotional semifinal at Wimbledon last month that was won by Venus en route to her first Grand Slam tennis title, won’t meet in the semifinals at the U.S. Open.

If the sisters meet at all, it will be for the championship.

Wednesday’s draw for the two-week tournament, which starts Monday at the National Tennis Center in New York, put third-seeded Venus in the top of the draw and fifth-seeded Serena, the defending champion, in the bottom.

Venus opens against Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France, and Serena will play Tina Pisnik of Slovenia in the first round.

Andre Agassi, the defending men’s champion, is seeded No. 1 and will be joined in the loaded top half of the bracket by fourth-seeded Pete Sampras. Also in the bracket: fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, seventh-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden and former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek.

Agassi opens against Alex Kim, a wild card from the United States. Sampras, winner of a record 13 Grand Slam titles, plays Martin Damm of the Czech Republic in the opening round.

Martina Hingis is seeded No. 1 among the women and will play Alina Jidkova of Russia in the first round. Lindsay Davenport, seeded second, opens against Gala Leon Garcia of Spain.