NEW YORK -- From the time they were little girls, Venus and Serena Williams believed they would play each other for the U.S. Open title. Now, perhaps, that time has come.

Papa Richard Williams, who danced so delightedly on the broadcast booth roof when Venus won Wimbledon last month, just might kick up his heels again in two weeks if his daughters set up the all-in-the-family final he has anticipated since their birth.

Serena, the defending champion, and Venus certainly could make it happen.

"I'm ready for the traffic and I'm ready for the city and I'm ready for a night match on Monday," Venus said.

For the first time in their professional careers, they are going into a Grand Slam tournament as the favorites and, thanks to a bit of luck, on opposite sides of the draw.

The seedings for the women don't really reflect the pecking order in the game or the expected outcome of this $15 million U.S. Open, which begins Monday. Venus is No. 3 behind top-seeded Martina Hingis and No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, and Serena is miscast as No. 5.

By following the WTA Tour rankings as usual for the seedings, the U.S. Open did not take into account how thoroughly the Williams sisters have dominated this summer and how they have blossomed since coming back in the spring from long absences due to injuries.

Between them, they won four tournaments in a row -- three by Venus -- before Serena took a cautious exit with a foot injury in the final of the du Maurier Open in Montreal last Sunday. Venus then won her fourth consecutive tournament and 19th straight match, beating Monica Seles in New Haven on Saturday to take the Pilot Pen title.

The doctor's diagnosis was sesamoiditis -- an inflammation of a small bone on the base of her left foot. If that injury doesn't flare up again, Serena should be as dangerous as she was the previous week when she beat Hingis and Davenport to take a tour title in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

The Williams sisters are the fastest, strongest, toughest, most feared women at the moment on quick hardcourts like those at the National Tennis Center. They have overcome the inconsistency they once showed, and the tendencies to rush through points and waste opportunities.

The turning point for 20-year-old Venus might have come when she took most of six months off to let the tendinitis in her wrists calm down. She came back thinner in the shoulders from a loss of muscle because of her idleness, but she had a new attitude on the court.

"I felt that tennis was a lot ... simpler than I was making it out to be," she said. "In reality, tennis is not too complex. There's some strategy, and in my case, a lot of power."

Boasting the fastest serve in women's tennis at 123 mph, Venus overpowered Davenport to win Wimbledon, beat Davenport again two weeks later in Stanford, Calif., and then won in San Diego, beating Monica Seles in the final.

"Once I started really having fun and making sure I enjoyed the battles," Venus said, "I think that helped me play a lot better."

She also began tinkering with the subtleties of the game, adding drop shots to augment her ball-bashing groundstrokes.

"I want to bring something new to the table," she said. "I want to do something my opponents have never seen before."

Serena, 18, came back strongly from a two-month absence caused by tendinitis in her left knee, and said she learned a few lessons from her loss to Venus in the Wimbledon semifinals. It was an emotional match that affected both sisters so much that they couldn't play their best. With that one out of the way, though, they just might be ready to put on the show of their lives if they meet again in the U.S. Open final.

In the men's draw, defending champion Andre Agassi is seeded No. 1 and four-time champion Pete Sampras is No. 4, his lowest seeding at the U.S. Open since 1991, as he goes for a 14th Grand Slam title after winning his seventh Wimbledon title.

Agassi and Sampras have the misfortune of being lumped together in a top-loaded draw. They also are both coming into the event after some rather shaky performances, with Agassi losing recently to Alex Corretja, and Sampras falling to Tim Henman.

"It's disappointing ... to go into New York without a victory," Sampras said after his loss two weeks ago to Henman in Cincinnati. "When you win tournaments of this caliber, you bring a certain aura about yourself that can definitely help you out in a slam like the U.S. Open.

"I've gone into New York playing well and I've won, and I've gone to New York not playing well and won. But I'd much rather go in there playing well."

Agassi, whose summer has been the opposite of the wonderful ride he enjoyed a year ago, would probably feel lucky just to reach the final. He exited early from the French Open with a blister on his big toe, he hurt his back in a minor traffic accident after Wimbledon and he's struggled recently to regain his form.

"I can't play if I'm not healthy," he said after his back acted up and forced him to retire from a match in Cincinnati. "But, ultimately, why I'm playing the game is for moments like the U.S. Open."