NEW YORK -- As much as Pete Sampras has struggled over the past two years, he's managed to play terrific tennis during the U.S. Open.

That won't be an easy task this time, thanks to Wednesday's draw.

The four-time Open champion's possible opponents include 15th-seeded Guillermo Canas in the third round, No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth, followed by either No. 5 Tim Henman or No. 11 Andy Roddick. And that's just to get to the semifinals.

The year's last Grand Slam tournament starts Monday, and Serena and Venus Williams will be expected to meet in a Grand Slam final for the third straight time. Serena beat her older sister at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Top-seeded Serena got a more favorable draw than Venus, the two-time defending Open champion. No. 2-seeded Venus has Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis on her side of the field.

Serena pulled out of a tournament last week because of left knee tendinitis and probably will benefit from avoiding top players until later rounds. Her first match is against wild-card entry Corina Morariu, an accomplished doubles player who recently returned to action after fighting leukemia since May 2001.

"That'll be a celebration, just for her to be on the court,'' U.S. Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King said. "Maybe it's fitting she'll play the No. 1 seed, so the whole world will know what she's overcome.''

The earliest Williams could face a top-20 player is in the fourth round, against 15th-seeded Anastasia Myskina.

The women's round-of-eight matchups could be: Serena Williams vs. No. 8 Justine Henin; Venus Williams vs. Monica Seles; No. 3 Capriati vs. No. 7 Kim Clijsters; and No. 4 Lindsay Davenport vs. No. 5 Jelena Dokic.

Capriati could meet No. 10 Amelie Mauresmo in the quarters. Mauresmo beat her in the final in Montreal last week and in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

The man who beat Sampras in last year's Open final, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, might have his toughest matches early.

Hewitt, the Wimbledon champion, could be in for a second-round meeting with 1997 finalist Greg Rusedski, who owns the fastest serve in ATP Tour history (149 mph). Rusedski beat Hewitt on a hard court in Indianapolis this month.

Hewitt could face No. 25 James Blake -- whose first career tournament victory came last week in Washington, D.C. -- in the third round, the same point at which they met during the 2001 Open. Blake pushed Hewitt to five sets in that match, which was marred by Hewitt's outburst at a linesman that some interpreted as racially tinged.

Andre Agassi, seeded sixth, doesn't figure to be tested until a possible fourth-round match against No. 9 Carlos Moya, the 1998 French Open champion.

Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, seeded 12th and in Hewitt's quarter of the draw, said in Sweden that he'll pull out because of a shoulder injury. The Open referee hadn't received official word of Johansson's withdrawal as of Wednesday night.

The potential men's quarterfinal pairings: Hewitt vs. No. 8 Albert Costa, this year's French Open champion; No. 2 Marat Safin (who beat Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open final) vs. No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero; Haas vs. Henman; and No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov vs. Agassi.

Sampras would love to crack that lineup.

"The days of me dominating and being No. 1 are probably over,'' Sampras said Tuesday night after losing his first match at a tuneup event in Commack, N.Y., to Paul-Henri Mathieu. "My goal is to win another major, and hopefully destiny will be on my side at the Open. It just takes one close win and things can turn around quickly.''

Thanks largely to a title drought that stretches to July 2000, Sampras is seeded just 17th at the Open, meaning he no longer has the benefit of avoiding top players until the latter rounds of tournaments.

Of course, these days he even has trouble against the likes of Mathieu, who's ranked 85th and made it into the Commack tournament when another player withdrew.

"Hopefully I can peak at the right time, but it will take time to find my game,'' said Sampras, who recently returned to working with former coach Paul Annacone.

"I am playing fine. I am not panicking. I lost a match to someone who played as well as he can play.''