"I don't know who that is," Williams dead-panned.
If you thought that was petty, there were also plenty of people willing to believe Williams' husband Alexis O'Hanion's choice of T-Shirt — which read "D.A.R.E. keeping kids off drugs" — was aimed at Sharapova, who was suspended from tennis in 2016-17 after testing positive for a banned substance. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
Before the match, the mother-of-one posted a photo of herself with daughter Alexis Olympia in the grounds at Flushing Meadows.
She then showed why she is still the greatest player of the modern era.
Rarely was Williams challenged by a rival who she now holds an amazing 20-2 career head-to-head record over.
The performance was of the highest calibre as Williams fired a warning shot to the rest of the draw that she might finally be ready to join Australian great Margaret Court on 24 grand slam titles.
Williams raced through the opening set in 24 incredible minutes and the stat sheet was amazing.
She won 27 points to just 12 for a shell-shocked Sharapova, hit 9 winners, including three aces and even won 10/17 points on Sharapova's serve, breaking twice.
It wasn't even until midway through the second set that Sharapova got a look in on the Williams serve at 2-1 and already down a break — but Serena snuffed out both break points with sensational winners, including a searing backhand pass down the line.
At that point Sharapova — who will plummet outside the world's top 125 after the defeat — looked completely broken as Williams rounded out the rout.
Of course the reaction to the performance was as one-sided as the match as tennis scribes and sports journos delivered the goods calling the match "not even close", "total domination"
While it's hard to tell just how "pissed off" Williams may or may not have been the performance seemed to scream to the field she's here to win and the women's draw — including Australia's Ash Barty, who Williams is seeded to meet in the quarters — is on notice.
