U.S. Open Women's Draw Preview

Serena, Venus face difficult paths to final

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Serena Williams' bad knee better be healed by the time she takes the court at Ashe Stadium next week, because the reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion has a tricky draw in her attempt to capture her third straight Grand Slam crown.

Serena gets the unenviable task of facing cancer survivor Corina Morariu in the first round and will be hard pressed to bring out her usual fire against tennis' newest heroine. In her two months back on tour, Morariu looks to be playing at 65 percent of her one-time top-25 form and couldn't have asked for a more foreboding first round opponent.

Should Serena triumph here, she may have the pleasure of facing Russian phenom Dinara Safina or the tricky Rita Grande of Italy. In all likelihood, the younger Williams will take on the athletic yet emotionally fragile 26th seed Nathalie Dechy of France in the third round, and then very likely have to face off against rising Russian Anastasia Myskina, the 15th seed, in the fourth round.

Should the seeds spout as they should, Serena couldn't have asked for a tougher quarterfinal, as she will likely face No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova - who played her tough at Wimbledon – or No. 8 seed Justine Henin of Belgium, who beat her in May.
Perhaps the most chaotic quarter of the women's draw is the bottom portion of the top half, which will determine either Serena's, Daniela's or Justine's opponent. There's no strong favorite here, as No. 4 Lindsay Davenport has only been back on tour for six weeks and No. 5 Jelena Dokic is struggling with physical exhaustion. Because Davenport owns Dokic, you have to give the Californian the edge here, but it wouldn't be stunning to see either Elena Bovina or Anna Kournikova thrash their way to the semis.

VENUS HAS CLEAR SAILING UNTIL THIRD ROUND
Two-time defending champion Venus Williams shouldn't be pushed until the third round, when she'll likely come against her '00 Roland Garros conqueror, No. 29 Barbara Schett of Austria. But Venus is playing a level above Schett right now and should be able to bash Babs.

Venus should face a stern test in the fourth round, when she'll probably face red hot American and No. 14 Chanda Rubin, who won Manhattan Beach two week ago and took down Serena, Dokic and Davenport in the process.

Still, you have to give Venus the edge over Rubin at the Slams, as Venus has shown time and time again over the past two and half years that she has what it takes to elbow her way to the final.

Venus' quarterfinal foe is almost anyone's guess, as the two highest seeds there, No. 6 Monica Seles and No. 9 Martina Hingis, are both major physical question marks. Because Seles hasn't played since late July, she's ripe to be upset, which could come at the hands of Austria's Barbara Schwartz in the second round, or by former two-time Slam champ Mary Pierce or No. 32 Paola Suarez of Argentina in the third round.

CAN HINGIS HANG ON FOR CONFRONTATION WITH VENUS?

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Hingis' level over the past two weeks should be good enough to earn herself another highly dramatic (although perhaps not that competitive) match against Venus in N.Y.

It's Venus' semifinal which (appropriately) should her most severe test, when by all rights she'll take on No. 7 Kim Clijsters Belgium for the third time this summer. In their last contest, at La Costa, the athletic Clijsters nearly knocked her off in three sets and finally appears to believe that she belongs on the same court as the daunting Venus.

But Clijsters is no lock for the semis, as she'll likely have to push past the hard-hitting No. 28 Eleni Daniilidou in the third round; Montreal champ Amelie Mauresmo of France in the fourth round; and third seed Jennifer Capriati of the U.S. in the quarters. Capriati, who has a lot to prove at this year's Open, hasn't won a title since she took her second straight Aussie Open crown last January and has been struggling on hard courts this summer.