French draw released

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova could meet in the fourth round of the French Open, thanks to the draw announced Thursday.

Williams resumes her comeback after maternity leave against 70th-ranked Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Williams hasn’t played at a Grand Slam since winning the Australian Open in January 2017 while pregnant.

Top-ranked Simona Halep will open against Alison Riske, and defending champion Jalena Ostapenko will take on Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine.

In the men’s draw, 10-time champion Rafael Nadal will open against Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Colleges: Stanford’s Emily Arbuthnott reached the third round of the NCAA championships with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Florida’s Josie Kuhlman in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Arbuthnott will play Vanderbilt’s Astra Sharma on Friday for a berth in the quarterfinals.

Cardinal teammate Michaela Gordon’s singles season ended in a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 loss to Texas Tech’s Gabriela Talaba. Gordon and Arbuthnott then lost their doubles match 6-3, 6-3 to Chandler Carter and Emma Davis of Wake Forest.

In men’s play, Cal’s Billy Griffith was eliminated 6-4, 6-3 by Jose Salazar of Arkansas. Griffith and J.T. Nishimura were beaten 6-4, 6-4 in doubles by North Carolina’s William Blumberg and Robert Kelly.

Stanford’s Tom Fawcett and Axel Geller also lost, falling to Florida’s Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez in a third-set tiebreaker 3-6, 7-6, 10-4.