In a Reboot, a Real Williams-Sharapova Rivalry May Materialize

Serena Williams, above, defeated 11th-seeded Julia Görges, 6-3, 6-4, on Saturday at the French Open in her attempt to resume being the game’s dominant force as a 36-year-old new mother.PARIS — It will be Serena Williams versus Maria Sharapova at a Grand Slam tournament on Monday, but don’t think that this will be business as usual.

Despite playing little competitive tennis in the last 16 months, Williams may well win again. Just as she has won her last 18 matches against Sharapova, the only women’s player in this era who has rivaled Williams’s star power and earning power, yet has never rivaled her as a champion.

But Williams’s and Sharapova’s lives and perspectives are altered now, and both…