Williams Sisters in Same Half of Draw at U.S. Open

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Williams Sisters in Same Half of Draw at U.S. Open

People waited with baited breath as the U.S. Open draw was made for women’s singles, as there were a lot of world-class players that had gone unseeded and could end up wreaking havoc on the draw.

See the 2016 U.S. Open Women's Singles Draw

One of those players, 2014 U.S. Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, landed right next to six-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams.

There have been health concerns with Williams, who struggled with her shoulder in a round of 16 loss to Elina Svitolina at the Rio Olympics and had to pull out of the Western and Southern Open when the injury didn’t heal quickly enough.

“Even if she’s 100 percent healthy that’s a tricky first-round draw,” said ESPN’s Brad Gilbert. “I watched her play at the Olympics and the serve didn’t look right.”

Gilbert, who is in North Carolina to call the Winston-Salem Open for ESPN this weekend, cautioned that the shoulder could play a factor. “As long as Serena is right in the shoulder, she should be okay,” he said.

He added: “I know one thing: You can never underestimate Serena when she’s in these big tournaments.”

Williams owns a 4-1 lifetime record against Makarova, and defeated her in the 2014 U.S. Open final. The top-ranked American fell to Makarova at the 2012 Australian Open in the fourth round.

Williams would face 29th-seeded Ana Ivanovic in the third round if the seeds hold, and would face either 16th-seeded Samantha Stosur or 23rd-seeded Daria Kasatkina in the round of 16.

Williams is slated to face 5th-seeded Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. Halep also got a tricky draw. The Romanian opens with Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, and will face the winner of a battle of unseeded Lucie Safarova and Daria Gavrilova in the second round.

Serena’s quarterfinal opponent, if the seeds hold, would be 4th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska or 6th-seeded Venus Williams.

Radwanska, who has never reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, will open with a qualifier, while two-time U.S. Open champion Williams will face Kateryna Kozlova of the Ukraine.

In the lower half of the draw second-seeded Angelique Kerber could face Petra Kvitova in an all-southpaw round of 16 battle at Flushing Meadows.

The German, who will become the WTA’s 22nd No. 1-ranked player if Serena Williams does not reach the semis, will open her fortnight with Polona Hercog of Slovenia.

In the opposite quarter on the bottom half, Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza, seeded third, could face British No. 1 Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals while 8th-seeded Madison Keys is slated to face 9th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the round of 16 if the seeds hold.

Projected quarterfinals for the women’s singles draw at the 2016 U.S. Open are as follows:

[1] S. Williams vs. [5] Halep
[4] Radwanska vs. [6] V. Williams
[8] Keys vs. [3] Muguruza
[2] Kerber vs. [7] Vinci

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