Women's Tennis draw released

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia was handed potentially the toughest task of the top seeds in the first round of the Women's Singles event in the draw on August 7.

The third-seeded Russian was drawn to play Li Na from China, who although currently ranked No.43 largely due to inactivity from a recent knee injury, has been ranked as high as No. 16 in the past, and will enjoy huge home support.

Top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and her compatriot Jelena Jankovic, who is seeded No.2, were given seemingly straightforward first-round tasks against Ukrainian Marina Korytsseva and Cara Black of Zimbabwe respectively.

No.4 seed Serena Williams from the United States will make her Olympic singles debut against Olga Govortsova from Belarus while her sister, Sydney 2000 gold medalist Venus Williams of the US, seeded No.7, faces Timea Bacszinsky of Switzerland in the singles first round, which will take place on Sunday, August 10 and Monday, August 11.

Elena Dementieva of Russia, who lost to Venus Williams in the 2000 final in Sydney is seeded No.5 currently, will begin her third Olympic campaign against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko while the in-form Russian Dinara Safina, the No.7 seed, begins against Italian Mara Santangelo.

Two Olympic tennis medalists were drawn to face each other in the first round when Atlanta 1996 champion Lindsay Davenport of the United States takes on Athens 2004 bronze medalist Australian Alicia Molik.

Looking ahead, Ivanovic is projected to meet Olympic newcomer Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the quarterfinals, while Serena Williams could face Dementieva in the other top half quarterfinal if they both advance that far.

In the bottom half of the draw, Venus Williams could have a quarterfinal meeting with Kuznetsova with Safina potentially playing Jankovic in the final eight.

Kuznetsova and Safina are also top seeds in the Women's Doubles event. The Russian team have a tough draw with a potential quarterfinal against the Chinese two-time Grand Slam champions Yan Zi and Zheng Jie and a projected semifinal against French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual from Spain, or Davenport and Liezel Huber of the US.

The Williams sisters are seeded to possibly meet the Russians in the final with their toughest obstacle likely to be 2007 Australian Open champions Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung of Chinese Taipei or Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko from the Ukraine, who won at the Australian Open in Melbourne this year.