Earlier Meeting Awaits Sisters

Venus and Serena Williams landed in the same section of the U.S. Open draw Wednesday -- setting them up for a possible fourth-round match -- with the winner potentially facing favorite Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals.

Though their father has suggested conspiracies against the sisters in the past, their seeded numbers for the year’s final Grand Slam event, which begins Monday, were drawn out of the silver winner’s cup at a ceremony in an auditorium at the United Nations.

The eight-seeded Serena, still trying to find her form after recovering from injuries and showing up out of shape at Wimbledon, starts against a qualifier. Venus, seeded 10th, opens against Rika Fujiwara.

If the sisters keep going until the fourth round, the winner of their match would go against the fourth-seeded Clijsters, who beat fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne to win the Rogers Cup on Sunday in Toronto and take the U.S. Open Series that leads up to the year’s final major. If Clijsters wins the Open, she would get double the $1.1-million first prize.

“This is incredible that this section turned out with Venus, Serena and Clijsters, who you could certainly make a case are three of the favorites,” said Patrick McEnroe, the U.S. Davis Cup captain and CBS commentator. “Obviously, though, the sisters come in with a lot of question marks, based on their health.”

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova received a relatively easy draw to the quarterfinals, where she could meet defending champion and fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. The fifth-seeded Kuznetsova, though, is troubled by a sore back.

Men’s top seed Roger Federer doesn’t seem to have anyone who could beat him on a hard court through the quarters and is seeded to meet fifth-seeded Marat Safin in the semis.

“Any draw for him is a good one,” McEnroe said of Federer. “For the men, it’s Federer and everyone else.”

Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion from Spain, could meet seventh-seeded Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals. Nadal beat Agassi in Montreal recently for his ninth ATP title this year -- tying him with Federer.

“Andre would be happy with another shot against Nadal,” McEnroe said.

Fourth-seeded Andy Roddick, the winner of the men’s U.S. Open Series who is also playing for double the top prize, appears to have an easy draw through to the semifinals, where he could meet Nadal or Agassi.