Miami Open: Serena v Osaka in round one

“There’s basically three people I wanna play. It was Venus, her (Sharapova) and Serena.”

That was Naomi Osaka after defeating Maria Sharapova in the first round of Indian Wells, a tournament she went on to win in a stunning breakthrough.

> RELATED: Naomi Osaka wins Indian Wells title

The Japanese star had already played Venus, but had yet to take on Serena.

She now gets her wish.

Osaka will face the 23-time major champion this week after the pair were drawn to do battle in the first round of the Miami Open.

It’s the blockbuster match of the women’s tournament, pitting the in-form 20-year-old against arguably the game’s greatest ever player, on the comeback trail from maternity leave.

Both play high-octane, explosive tennis with games built around powerful serves and a first-strike approach from the baseline.

The winner will meet No.4 seed Elina Svitolina in what is a stacked section of the draw.

> WTA Miami Open main draw

Those players have all landed in the bottom half of the draw, led by No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Wozniacki, the reigning Australian Open champion, is projected to meed eighth seed Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.

Should they both keep winning, Venus and Serena would meet in the semifinals, in a rematch of their highly-anticipated third-round duel at Indian Wells.

The Williams-Osaka-Svitolina quarter also contains French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and in-form No.9 seed Petra Kvitova.

In the top half of the draw, Halep heads the tournament as the world No.1 and top seed, and could face 30th seed Agnieszka Radwanska in round three before taking on 14th seed Madison Keys – who may meet wildcard Victoria Azarenka in the second round – in the last 16.

No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova is her projected quarterfinal opponent, while in the second quarter, No.3 seed Garbine Muguruza and seventh seed Caroline Garcia are seeded to meet in the last eight.

Yet they could face stumbling blocks in the shape of US Open champion Sloane Stephens and 10th seed Angelique Kerber, who are among the threats looming at the fourth-round stage.

Defending champion Johanna Konta is the No.11 seed and could meet Venus in the fourth round.