PARIS -- Venus and Serena Williams got their wish for the French Open. It came at a steep price.

The sisters, who have moved up dramatically in the world tennis rankings in the past year, have never met in the final of a professional tournament.

Based on Friday's draw, that finally could happen in Paris. But it's unlikely, given their lack of experience on clay courts and a draw that left Venus with a particularly rough path to the final.

THE SISTERS, WHO FASCINATE FANS by hitting powerful groundstrokes as hundreds of beads flap in their hair, have met twice already this year -- with Venus winning both matches easily.

They met in the second round of the Australian Open and in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open, a clay-court tournament earlier this month.

They ended up in opposite halves of the draw for the French Open, which begins Monday, but Venus ended up with a potential quarterfinal match against Martina Hingis, the world's top player.

Venus, seeded eighth, will have a first-round match against Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand. If she wins, she probably would face Ai Sugiyama of Japan -- who at No. 17 in the world rankings is the highest-ranked player not to be seeded -- in the second round.

HER MOST LIKELY FOURTH-ROUND opponent would be No. 9 Irina Spirlea of Romania, who bumped into Williams during a changeover at last year's U.S. Open - leading Williams' father to call Spirlea a "big, tall white turkey," a comment for which he later apologized.

If Venus survives all those tests, she probably then would face Hingis, whose all-court game is best suited for clay and who defeated Venus in the recent Italian Open final.

Serena, who at 16 is a year younger than Venus, is ranked 27th in the world and is not seeded at the French Open. But she cannot possibly face a higher-ranked player until at least the third round.