Williams sisters in same half at Bangalore Open

Richard Williams, sitting in the dais with the rest of the party of the draw ceremony, didn't look particularly happy. His girls, Venus and Serena, were drawn in the same half of the draw at the WTA Bangalore Open, starting at the KSLTA stadium on Monday. Seeded second and third respectively, they could run into each other in the semi-finals.

But, on the other hand, their path towards the last four looks largely devoid of any minefields. Apart from seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, who was a finalist at the recently-concluded Doha Open, the bottom half, with all the four qualifiers and a wildcard thrown in, lacks muscle.

Venus and Serena, ranked eighth and 10th in the world respectively, last figured together in a WTA tour event in Charleston last year. Their last on-court meeting was at the 2005 US Open.

Along with the Williams sisters, top seed Jelena Jankovic and fourth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland have received first round byes.

Former Indian Davis Cupper-turned-commentator Vijay Amritraj though warned that the favourites tag will mean little when the players take court.

"It's difficult to predict anything in these conditions," he said in Bangalore on Sunday. "Bangalore is at an altitude, the racquets will have to be strung tighter, the players will have to make all these changes to their game."

Venus and Serena have also been awarded a wild card in the doubles. They will take on Andreeea Ehritt-Vanc of Romania and Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn in the first round.

In the singles, India's Shikha Uberoi and the up-and-coming Isha Lakhani were awarded wild-cards. Fed Cup player Uberoi, who has slipped to 824, will face fifth seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary while Lakhani has drawn a qualifier.

Sunitha Rao advanced to the final round of qualifying on Sunday when she overcame Japan's Junri Namigata 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. She will face China's Tiantian Sun, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Nenad Zimonjic, to enter the main draw.