Tennis

Serena, Venus Williams in same half of draw

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-15 10:25
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MELBOURNE - There won't be on all-Williams women's singles final at the Australian Open this year.

Serena and Venus Williams were placed in the same top half when the draw was made Friday.

Justine Henin, playing in her first Grand Slam tournament in nearly two years, will play fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the first round and could play Olympic champion Elena Dementieva in the second.

Henin, who is unseeded, could meet fellow comeback player, U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, in the quarterfinals. The Williams sisters could only meet Henin or Clijsters, who are in the bottom half of the draw, in the final.

Serena Williams, the defending champion and No. 1 seed, will take on Urszula Radwanska of Poland in her first-round match.

Top-seeded Roger Federer will play Igor Andreev of Russia in the first round, but the best news for the Swiss star was who he couldn't meet until the final on January 31.

No. 2 and defending champion Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 5 Andy Murray and No. 7 Andy Roddick were all placed in the other half of the draw.

Federer could meet No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko, who beat him last week at Doha, in the quarterfinals, and No. 3 and 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in the semis.

The Australian Open begins Monday.