Martina Hingis begins defence of Chase title

Martina Hingis will play Sandrine Testud in the opening round as she begins the defence of her Chase Championships title at Madison Square Garden next week.

Martina Hingis will play Sandrine Testud in the opening round as she begins the defence of her Chase Championships title at Madison Square Garden next week.

Hingis is seeded No 1 in the elite 16-player field for the season-ending tournament, while Lindsay Davenport, who lost to Hingis in last year's final, is seeded No 2. Davenport will take on Amelie Mauresmo in the first round.

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams are in opposite halves of the draw, which was conducted today in Philadelphia, and could not meet until in the final.

Venus Williams, seeded third, will begin against veteran Conchita Martinez, while the fourth-seeded Serena Williams plays Dominique Van Roost in the opening round, which gets underway Monday.

The final spot in the field will be determined by this week's Advanta Championships, being played in Philadelphia. The spot could be filled by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Amy Frazier, Chanda Rubin or Jennifer Capriati.

Other first-round pairings pit fifth-seeded Mary Pierce against Anna Kournikova, No 6 Nathalie Tauziat against Amanda Coetzer and No 8 Julie Halard-Decugis against Anke Huber. Seventh-seeded Barbara Schett will face the 16th player to qualify for the $2 million tournament.