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Thursday, June 22
Updated: June 23, 6:15 PM ET
 
Venus draws rocky path to finals

By Pam Shriver
Special to ESPN.com

Now that the draw is done and the matchups are set, here's how the women's singles field is shaping up as Wimbledon approaches:

GRAND SLAM WITH PAM
Pam Shriver
Shriver
Throughout Wimbledon, former WTA Tour pro Pam Shriver will provide ESPN.com with in-depth scouting reports and analysis. Shriver, a tennis analyst for ESPN, begins with a look at the women's singles draw heading into the season's second Grand Slam.

Toughest draw
Venus Williams. Kvetoslava Hrdlickova could give Williams trouble in the first round. Possible second-round opponent Ai Sugiyama has been in and around the top 20 the last few years. Then a tough group of unseeded players -- either Nathalie Dechy, Chanda Rubin or Cara Black -- would be difficult matchups on grass in the third round. Williams' draw improves with the possibility of facing 14th seed Julie Halard-Decugis in the fourth round. However, she could meet Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals and possibly sister Serena in the semifinals. Over the last few years, there has been no guarantee that either she or Serena will play the tournament if they are in the same half of the draw.

Easiest road
Monica Seles. The draw is pretty balanced and doesn't necessarily favor one specific player. But looking at the seven players nearest her in the draw, Seles has a favorable path until a possible fourth-round matchup with Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario. Seles, however, has made a mess of good draws in the past at Wimbledon.

Best first-round matches
Sandrine Testud vs. Anna Kournikova: Testud, seeded 10th, has the toughest first-round match of any seeded player, but she has been playing good tennis this season. Kournikova, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1997, is entering a major as an unseeded player for the first time in a few years.

Dominique Van Roost vs. Jennifer Capriati: Either player could have been one of the last two seeds. Capriati was the 15th seed at Roland Garros, but lost in the first round. Van Roost lost in the second round at the French Open after upsetting Lindsay Davenport in the first round. For Capriati, it's not a bad draw to play the 16th seed in the first round.

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario vs. Justine Henin: Henin, 18, is one of the toughest young European players on tour. Sanchez-Vicario should win the match, but this could be a possible upset.

Nathalie Tauziat vs. Kim Clijsters: Tauziat, a Wimbledon finalist in 1998, lost to Clijsters earlier this year in the Fed Cup. Clijsters, 17, nearly beat eventual champion Serena Williams in the third round of last year's U.S. Open. Like fellow Belgian player Henin, Clijsters is one of the best 18-and-under players in the world.

Nathalie Dechy vs. Chanda Rubin: This is the best match of non-seeded players. Either would could meet Venus Williams in the third round.

Lindsay Davenport vs. Corina Morariu: This qualifies as the most awkward match of the first round -- the defending champion playing her doubles partner. Incidentally, they also teamed to win last year's women's doubles title.

Keep an eye on ...
Alicia Molik. She is a big-serving Australian with great talent. Her serve is probably the second- or the third-best in women's tennis. She should beat Sandra Kleinova in the first round and either Amy Frazier or Lorna Woodroffe in the second. Molik, 19, is an unknown who could make some noise in the tournament.

The pressure's on
Three young players -- Mirjana Lucic, Alexandra Stevenson and Jelena Dokic -- played really well at Wimbledon last year and should feel the heat this year. Lucic and Stevenson were surprise semifinalists, and Dokic reached the quarterfinals. Lucic plays a first-round match against Denisa Chladkova, who beat Davenport at Wimbledon in 1997. Stevenson is having trouble winning any matches. And Dokic, who upset Hingis in the first round last year, begins against a qualifier.

Potential dream matchups
Williams vs. Williams: If everything goes well, Venus and Serena would meet in the semifinals. It would be nice to see them get over the fear of playing each other in majors. In a sibling semifinal, Venus would feel the most pressure since she's the older sis and hasn't won a major.

Seles vs. Davenport: Wimbledon remains the lone major that has eluded Seles. If Davenport meets Seles in the quarterfinals, that would mean her back is fine. At that point, she would be the favorite to win the title.





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