U.S Open first: Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, two icons of women’s tennis, will meet for the first time at the U.S. Open when they play in a first-round match, it was announced Thursday when the draw was revealed. The tournament begins Monday, but no time has been assigned for their match.

The former U.S. Open champions have faced off in the finals of the other three majors — Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon — but had never crossed paths before in Flushing Meadows. Williams has dominated Sharapova, winning 19 of 21 meetings.

Williams continues her bid to tie Margaret Court with a 24th major championship. She recently had to withdraw from the Rogers Cup final in Toronto because of back spasms. Before giving birth, Williams was 23-6 in Grand Slam championship matches. Since then, she is 0-3.

Defending champion and top-ranked Naomi Osaka is seeded No. 1 while French Open champion Ashleigh Barty is seeded second followed by Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Petra Kvitova, Kiki Bertens and Williams.

In the men’s draw, defending champion and top-ranked Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 1, Rafael Nadal is No. 2 and Roger Federer is No. 3. Nadal and Federer have never met at the U.S. Open either. The rest of the top players are Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Kei Nishikori and Stefanos Tsitsipas.