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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Wednesday, August 22 |
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| Venus-Serena final possible at U.S. Open Associated Press | |||
NEW YORK -- The Williams sisters, hoping to win the family's
third consecutive U.S. Open title, face a potential prime-time
showdown in the Sept. 8 final.
No. 10-seeded Serena Williams, the 1999 champion, was assigned
to the toughest quarter of the draw Wednesday. It also includes
1998 champ Lindsay Davenport, seeded third, and this year's
Wimbledon runner-up, Justine Henin.
No. 4 Venus Williams, who won the U.S. Open last year, finds
herself with an easier path. She opens against a qualifier when the
year's final Grand Slam event begins next week.
The women's final will be played in prime time for the first
time.
No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, who won the first two Grand Slam titles
of her career at the Australian and French Opens this year, could
meet Venus Williams in the semifinals. Top-seeded Martina Hingis is
in the other half of the draw.
The men's draw includes three former champions in the same
quarter -- No. 10 Pete Sampras, No. 2 Andre Agassi and No. 6 Patrick
Rafter. Also in that quarter is No. 13 Roger Federer, who upset
Sampras at Wimbledon this year.
The survivor of that quarter could face defending champion Marat
Safin, seeded third, in the semifinals.
A first-time U.S. Open finalist is likely to emerge from the
other half of the draw. Contenders include top-seeded Gustavo
Kuerten, No. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and emerging American star Andy
Roddick, who is seeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first
time at No. 18.
The tournament doubled the number of seeded players this year to
32 men and 32 women, meaning fewer early marquee matchups. For example, Venus Williams, Agassi and Safin open against qualifiers.
Sampras, struggling through his worst year since winning the
first of his four U.S. Open titles in 1990, faces a dangerous
opening opponent in Julien Boutter. The left-handed Frenchman has a
big serve that could give Sampras trouble. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
ALSO SEE U.S. Open first round matches Kournikova withdraws from U.S. Open Martinez pulls out of Open | |
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