The United States Open sought to protect the six-time champion Serena Williams, boosting her from her ranking of 26th to a seeding of 17th, out of consideration for the time she had missed after giving birth during last year’s tournament.
But the tournament’s random draw on Thursday did her no such favors.
She got her least desirable possible opponent for the third round: her sister, 16th-seeded Venus Williams.
And the reward for reaching the fourth round is a possible meeting with top-seeded Simona Halep, who has surged on hard courts this summer with a title in Montreal and a runner-up finish in the Cincinnati event.