Serena, Venus are in same half of draw

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — There won’t be an all-Williams women’s singles final at the Australian Open this year.

Serena and Venus Williams were placed into the same top half of the draw Friday.

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

Henin, who is unseeded, could also meet fellow comeback player and U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals. One of the Williams sisters could face 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 the first round.

Organizers resisted giving former No. 1-ranked Henin a seeding for her first Grand Slam event back from retirement.

The 27-year-old Henin, who won seven singles majors before quitting in May 2008 while holding the No. 1 ranking, made her tour comeback last week at the Brisbane International, where she lost in the final to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters.

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 Jan. 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.

Federer won the Australian Open in 2004, 2006 and 2007, losing to the eventual champion in ’05, ’08 and last year.

The Australian Open begins Monday.