Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova for the 19th time in 22 meetings between the 37-year-old North American and 32-year-old Russian in the first day of Grand Slam Finals at the U.S. Open on Monday.

Serena Williams looked strong as she finished Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 in a very quick game that lasted just 59 minutes at the U.S. Open. By contrast, Roger Federer took two hours and nine minutes to beat Sumit Nagal the same night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams and Sharapova both have the distinction of being two of six women to have won the Career Grand Slam in the past and to have been ranked No. 1 multiples times. However, the meetings between these two have been quite lopsided. Williams has won the last 19 meetings the two have had since 2003 and there has been talk of bad blood between the two (which Williams has denied).

A recent string of shoulder problems has lowered Sharapova’s ranking down do 87th (She is expected to rise outside of the top 100 after this last loss). Williams herself did not show signs of a back issue she had been dealing with recently. Instead, many noted this looked like her finest performance since coming back to the tour in March 2018 after the birth of her child.

IN MEMORIAM: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

“I just feel like her game really matches up well against mine. I always said her ball somehow lands in my strike zone. I don’t know. It’s just perfect for me,” said Williams.

Williams took control and power early and the first set took 25 minutes to close for the 23-time Grand Slam champion. The pace and aggressiveness continued with Williams stating of Sharapova after the match, “I was not letting her in the match.”

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Sharapova stated that she had a procedure on her shoulder nearly four months ago that has hindered the number of matches she was able to play before unfortunately drawing Williams as her opponent on the first day of the finals. “After the long match against Kontaveit, I struggled with my shoulder for a week or so,” said Williams. “I was trying to get that back on track. I think I hit like over 200 serves in that match. That was a lot compared to what I did in practice beforehand.”

Williams is seeking her record-tying 24th Grand Slam title.

The 2019 United States Open Qualifying Tournament began this week, while the main draw of the annual premiere tennis competition starts on Monday, August 26. Arthur Ashe Kids Day will be held on Aug. 24.

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In total, 128 men and an equal number of women will be fighting for the trophy and a $3.5 million prize at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens. Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka won last year’s men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively.

The 16 women and 16 men who manage to secure at least three match victories could win at least $58,000 in main-draw first-round prize money.

This year’s U.S. Open will end on Sept. 8.

Some of the players to look out for the most in this year’s tournament include Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, 33, and 37-year-old Spaniard Tommy Robredo, both of whom are top-15 players. Robredo boasts a career-high ATP ranking of No. 5 (in 2006) and has gotten as far as the quarterfinals in the 2013 U.S. Open. He has successfully qualified for the tournament for the second consecutive year.

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Meanwhile, Flipkens is chasing her eighth straight U.S. Open main-draw qualification and ninth in total. The Belgian reached the Wimbledon semifinals and was ranked the World No. 13 in 2013.

Other players to note include American star Tommy Paul and Italy’s Jannik Sinner, who just turned 18 on Friday.

Hungary’s Timea Babos, the World No. 3 doubles player who was a Top-25 singles player in 2016, will also play at Arthur Ashe this year. Babos made it to the third round of the U.S. Open in 2016 and reached last year’s women’s doubles finals alongside Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic. 

The highest-ranked American woman in the qualifying draw for this year’s U.S. Open is Christina McHale, who is No. 102.

Tickets for Grounds Admission on Aug. 26, the first day of the main draw, start at $79 on StubHub. Tickets for the day session that day begin at $60, while tickets for Session 1, Round 1 start at around $70 or $77.

For the night session (session 2, Round 1) on Aug. 26, there are tickets as low as $42 or $43.

Check the link at www.stubhub.com to see more prices for every session on each day!

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were also chosen in the opening-round draw at Arthur Ashe together for the first time ever on Thursday.

Here is the full schedule for the 2019 U.S. Open:

QUALIFYING

SESSION DAY DATE SESSION TIME (ET) MATCH SCHED.
Qualifying Day 1 Monday 8/19 11:00 AM 1st Round
Qualifying Day 2 Tuesday 8/20 11:00 AM 1st Round
Qualifying Day 3 Wednesday 8/21 11:00 AM 2nd Round
Qualifying Day 4 Thursday 8/22 11:00 AM 2nd Round
Qualifying Day 5 Friday 8/23 11:00 AM Final Round

MAIN DRAW 
1 M 8/26 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s R1
2 M 8/26 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s R1
3 TU 8/27 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s R1
4 TU 8/27 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s R1
5 W 8/28 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s R2
6 W 8/28 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s R2
7 TH 8/29 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s R2
8 TH 8/29 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s R2
9 FR 8/30 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s R3
10 FR 8/30 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s R3
11 SA 8/31 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s R3
12 SA 8/31 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s R3
13 SU 9/1 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s
Round of 16
14 SU 9/1 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s
Round of 16
15 M 9/2 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s
Round of 16
16 M 9/2 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s
Round of 16
17 TU 9/3 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s
Quarterfinals
18 TU 9/3 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s
Quarterfinals
19 W 9/4 11:00 AM Men’s & Women’s
Quarterfinals
20 W 9/4 7:00 PM Men’s & Women’s
Quarterfinals
21 TH 9/5 7:00 PM* Women’s Semifinals
22 FR 9/6 12:00 PM Men’s Doubles Final
4:00 PM Men’s Semifinals
23 SA 9/7 12:00 PM Mixed Doubles Final
4:00 PM Women’s Final
24 SU 9/8 1:00 PM Women’s Doubles Final
4:00 PM Men’s Final

Schedule subject to change. All matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium begin at 12:00 PM.
* Field court start time: 12:00pm.