(Sports Network) - The 2009 U.S. Open draw was revealed on Thursday, and the mighty Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, could square off in the semifinals in Flushing Meadows in a couple of weeks.

The former world No. 1 sisters were both slotted in the bottom half of the draw, with Serena as the second seed and Venus as the third. The siblings decided the 2001 and 2002 champions here, with Venus topping her younger sister in the '01 finale and Serena besting her big sister in the '02 title tilt.

The top seed at this year's fortnight is current world No. 1 Dinara Safina, the reigning French Open and Australian Open runner-up. The big Russian will open her stay in New York against Aussie Olivia Rogowska and could meet 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals.

The former top-ranked Jankovic, who succumbed to the three-time U.S. Open champion Serena in last year's final in Flushing, will open her '09 stay against scrappy Italian Roberta Vinci.

Safina could be opposed by Olympic gold medalist and fellow Russian Elena Dementieva or French Open titlist and compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis. Safina lost to Kuznetsova in this year's finale at Roland Garros, and gave way to Dementieva in last year's gold medal match in Beijing.

The fourth-seeded Dementieva will open up against a qualifier, while the sixth-seeded Kuznetsova will encounter German Julia Goerges in the round of 128. Kuznetsova topped Dementieva in the 2004 U.S. Open final and was the runner-up in 2007. The two Russian stars could clash in the quarters this year.

A potential third-round opponent for Dementieva could be another fellow Russian, Maria Sharapova. The 29th-seeded former world No. 1 Sharapova captured her lone U.S. Open title back in 2006.

The three-time major champion Sharapova will start her latest U.S. Open campaign against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova next week.

Back in the bottom half of the draw, the 11-time major champion Serena will open her stay against fellow American Alexa Glatch, while the seven-time Grand Slam event titlist Venus will meet Russian Vera Dushevina in round one.

Serena could meet seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva in the quarters and her older sister in the final four, while Venus could tangle with talented eighth-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the quarters before facing Serena in the semis.

The high-flying Serena bested Venus in last month's Wimbledon final and has won three of the last four majors on the women's tour.

A potential fourth-round opponent for the two-time U.S. Open champion Venus could be former world No. 1 star Kim Clijsters, who returned to the WTA Tour this month after retiring from it in 2007 in order to start a family, which she did with her American husband Brian Lynch.

Clijsters hasn't played at the U.S. Open since capturing her lone title there in 2005. The sturdy Belgian star was also a runner-up in the Big Apple back in 2003.

The 26-year-old Clijsters will open up against Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova.

The 2009 U.S. Open will get underway on Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.





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