NEW YORK, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Top seed Serena Williams will face an emotional first-round match at the U.S. Open next week as she drew wild card and fellow American Corina Morariu when the brackets were announced Wednesday.
On the men's side, world No. 1 and top seed Lleyton Hewitt, the defending U.S. Open and reigning Wimbledon champion, will meet Nicolas Coutelot of France in the first round. Second seed Marat Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open titlist, will face a tricky opening-round match against veteran Nicolas Kiefer of Germany.
The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, Williams climbed to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in the midst of her recent 21-match winning streak.
Williams is trying to become the first women to capture three Grand Slam titles in a year since Martina Hingis accomplished the feat in 1997.
Morariu returned to the tour on July 29 at San Diego. She had not played since a first-round loss in Germany in May 2001, when she returned home after suffering from nosebleeds and bruising. She was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia and began receiving massive doses of chemotherapy, leaving her weakened and near death. She now is in remission.
"Whether she wins or loses to Serena, this should be a fantastic showcase to honor Corina, a true survivor," said four-time U.S. Open champion Billie Jean King, who attended Wednesday's draw ceremony held at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 24-year-old Morariu has been ranked as high as No. 29 in the world in singles and No. 1 in doubles during her career. She will play in her first Grand Slam tournament since the 2001 Australian Open, where she reached the doubles final with Lindsay Davenport and won the mixed doubles title with Ellis Ferreira.
Hewitt will be the clear favorite to beat the world No. 103 in the opening round. But in the second, the Australian faces a potential encounter with Britain's Greg Rusedski.
Rusedski knocked off Hewitt in straight sets on Aug. 15 in the third round of the Indianapolis hardcourt event en route to capturing the title.
Safin owns a 2-1 edge in his lifetime series against Kiefer. The Russian beat Kiefer in four sets in the quarterfinals on the way to capturing the 2000 U.S. Open title. However, the German overcame Safin earlier this year at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf.
The women's second seed is two-time defending champion Venus Williams -- Serena's sister. Venus defeated Serena to win the 2001 final here.
Since then, Serena has beaten Venus in the French Open and Wimbledon finals.
The third-seeded Jennifer Capriati will meet a qualifier in the first round. Fourth seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States will go up against Eva Dyrberg of Denmark in her first Grand Slam match since returning from a knee injury.
Having already beaten him at the Tennis Masters Series hardcourt event at Indian Wells earlier this year, third seed Tommy Haas of Germany again takes on David Sanchez of Spain. No. 4 Yevegeny Kafelnikov of Russia meets Davide Sanguinetti of Italy.
