Andrew Brownbill/Associated Press
Serena Williams has beaten Maria Sharapova nearly everywhere. On courts hard and soft, fast and slow, indoors and outdoors. Blue clay was a novelty surface introduced for only one week, in Madrid in 2012; Williams made sure she beat Sharapova there, too.
But Williams, 37, and Sharapova, 32, who have met in the finals of the other three Grand Slam events, have never played each other at the United States Open. That will change this year: The eighth-seeded Williams on Thursday drew the unseeded Sharapova for a first-round matchup in this year’s women’s singles competition.