Williams sisters drawn in same half at Bangalore Open

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have been drawn in the same half of the WTA Bangalore Open which begins on Monday.

The multiple grand slam winners, who usually avoid playing in the same tournament outside the majors, have been given first round byes in their first tournament appearance in India.

"I don't understand why they are playing in the same tournament," their father Richard Williams told Reuters on Sunday when quizzed about his daughters' decision and a probable semi-final meeting.

Venus and Serena, ranked eighth and 10th in the world respectively, last figured together in a WTA tour event in Charleston last year but did not cross paths.

Their last on-court meeting was at the 2005 U.S. Open which Venus won before bowing out in the quarter-finals.

Top seed and Serbian world number four Jelena Jankovic and fourth seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder have also got first round byes.

India's world number 32 Sania Mirza will skip her country's biggest WTA event following her decision to boycott tournaments in India after being dragged into a series of controversies.

"Pitting Sania against these top players with the crowd behind Sania would have inspired her to raise her game by several notches," tournament director Sunder Raju told Reuters.

"But she has chosen not to be here for a variety of reasons. We just have to respect whatever decision she has taken."

This will be Serena's first tournament since the Australian Open in January where she lost to Jankovic in the quarter-finals.

Her father said she still had not recovered completely from hamstring trouble that plagued her during last year's Wimbledon.

"She needs to take a long break, maybe six months off, give her body rest," he said.

(Editing by Trevor Huggins)