Williams sisters can meet only in U.S. Open semifinals

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena and Venus Williams have met in eight Grand Slam finals, most recently at Wimbledon last month. The U.S. Open won’t feature No. 9.

The No. 2-seeded Serena and No. 3 Venus are in the same half of the U.S. Open field announced Thursday, meaning they could face each other only in the semifinals of the year’s last major tournament.

“It is a shame. They’re the people to beat. They rise to the occasion at the big ones, especially Serena,” three-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe said.

“In interest level alone, it’s too bad,” added McEnroe, part of the CBS Sports announcing team at the tournament.

That network began carrying the U.S. Open women’s final in prime time in 2001, a move widely attributed to the sisters’ ascension in the sport. Venus beat Serena that year for the championship, and nearly 23 million viewers tuned in, giving the final the largest TV audience of any program that night, including a football game between Notre Dame and Nebraska.

In July, Serena beat Venus at Wimbledon for her 11th Grand Slam singles title — four more than Venus owns. Serena also leads 6-2 in major finals and 11-10 overall in professional matches.

“There’s definitely a rivalry, especially when we step out on the court,” Serena said.

“We never talk about numbers, per se. But when we’re on the court, we both have in the back of our minds that we won that many matches against each other,” she said. “At least it’s in the back of my mind.”

There won’t be Williams-Williams to decide a title, but there could be Federer-Nadal. No. 1-seeded Roger Federer and No. 3 Rafael Nadal were drawn into opposite halves of the field when the draw was held behind closed doors Wednesday.

They have played in seven major finals as Nos. 1-2, including at each of the other three Grand Slam tournaments, with Nadal leading 5-2. But because Nadal recently fell to third in the rankings, there was a possibility the two men who have dominated tennis in recent years would wind up on the same side of the bracket in New York.

Instead, 15-time Grand Slam title winner Federer has No. 4 Novak Djokovic and No. 5 Andy Roddick in his half. Federer edged Roddick 16-14 in the fifth set of the Wimbledon final in July.