Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova in the straight sets of the first match of the US Open | Bleacher's report

Serena Williams is arguably the greatest tennis player in history.

There would not even be any debate if each of his matches was against Maria Sharapova.

Williams continued his dominance on Sharapova on Monday with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the first round of the 2019 US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. It was a high-level confrontation typically reserved for later rounds of tournaments, as NBC Sports noted that it was the first meeting between the two before a round of 16.

This rivalry has been a one-way story throughout their respective careers.

Williams now holds a 20-2 command advantage Sharapova's last win goes back to 2004. Williams also came into play with an 18-game winning streak against Sharapova, not counting the time that the American had retired before his fourth-round match to Roland Garros in 2018 because of injury.

Domination extends beyond their individual encounters. Williams is 23 times champion and 6 times American champion in open singles. He has won the tournament three times in a row from 2012 to 2014. She also reached the final last year before losing Naomi Osaka in a memorable match.

Sharapova has not gone past the knockout stages in New York since her semi-final in 2012.

Nevertheless, the Russian is five-time major champion and won the 2006 American Open. She is far from being an ordinary underdog in the first round for Williams or whoever else, even if she is dropped to 87th place in singles. rankings.

It was also the first meeting between the two at the American opening, but things went on as usual.

Williams lost little time in defeating Sharapova twice in the first set and winning a 6-1 win. She submerged the competitor with her service, winning 85% of her first service. points and never give Sharapova a chance to reduce the gap in the first set.

Any realistic chance of coming back was short-lived when Williams broke Sharapova in the first game of the second set and broke up from 15-40 with four points in a row to score 3-1.

Williams' break at the next match apparently put the game aside, and she kept three more points of Sharapova's break to prevent any desperate effort to return. The winner beat Sharapova once more for good measure and to end the match.

In all, Williams won 78% of her first serve points, barely 52% for Sharapova and capitalize on four of the five stunt points she's created. She has completely controlled every aspect of the game and seems to be on the right track to fight for another major championship.

And after?

Williams will face Catherine McNally in the second round after the latter eliminated Timea Bacsinszky in two sets on Monday.

The two Americans have never faced each other but will have their first home game.

* All statistics are courtesy of the US Open official website.