The superstar sisters’ third-round clash is their earliest Grand Slam meeting in 20 years – since Venus beat her younger sister in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open in their first career meeting.
Browsing: Grand Slam
Williams sent down 13 aces and 30 winners to record her second consecutive straight sets victory at Flushing Meadows.
Five-times Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2006, struggled with her serve at times in the opening set, but Schnyder failed to take full advantage.
Simona Halep became the first women’s top seed to exit the first round of the US Open in the Open era, after suffering a shock defeat to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
However, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are still the favourites for the title.
Sloane Stephens will be defending her title at the US Open but all eyes will be on Serena Williams over the coming two weeks as the six-times champion attempts to win her first Grand Slam title since becoming a mother.
Serena Williams is determined to keep chasing Grand Slam titles for as long as she can, and is prepared to be on the court when her daughter turns one during the US Open.
Germany’s Alex Zverev on Tuesday said he had appointed Ivan Lendl to his coaching team as he looks to convert his burgeoning potential into Grand Slam success.
Britain’s Andy Murray has climbed 457 places in the latest ATP rankings despite withdrawing from the Washington Open last week.
Djokovic, who won the last of his 12 majors at the 2016 French Open, is now fourth on the list Grand Slam winners – one behind Pete Sampras.
Angelique Kerber has won her first Wimbledon title thanks to a straight-sets victory over Serena Williams.
Wawrinka, winner of three Grand Slams, trailed by two sets overnight but was 6-5 ahead in the third when play resumed in muggy conditions.
The top seed won 3-6 6-4 6-1 in just over two hours to hoist the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen in front of a packed centre court.
He however acknowledged that the decision has boosted the Swiss player’s Wimbledon hopes.
The 26-year-old has pedigree on clay, knows what it feels like to step out to contest the title match against American Sloane Stephens and holds a 5-2 winning record over her.
Claycourt specialist Thiem’s relentless accuracy from the baseline proved too much for second seed Zverev who looked jaded after a gruelling path to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
French Open: Serena fights back to reach third round
Krystina Pliskova shared the Wimbledon winners’ stage with Serena back in 2010 where the Czech was junior champion as Serena won the real thing that year.
But then Serena Williams, the 23-times Grand Slam singles champion, has never been one to take too much notice of convention
Thiem, a two-time French Open semi-finalist, was the better player for much of the match and won 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-3 despite a battling effort from Djokovic.