pit against

Reader's Digest 8月号にWOMEN WHO HIT VERY HARDと題したテニスの記事がありました。
The feel-good match of last year, at the French Open in June, pitted Stosur, then 26, against Francesca Schiavone, then 29, both favourites with all-around games, rarities among the women these days, and both sharing the unusual condition of not being one or the other of the Williams sisters in a Grand Slam final.
"pit" は以前 "stone fruit"(Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2008/07/26 ) と "yellowcling"(Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/12/23 ) の話題にも出てきた単語ですが、上の記事の "pit" は "pit someone agaist" が原形で、ここでは対抗させたとの意味だと推測できますが、初めて見る用法なので辞書で確認します。
たまたま最初に見た辞書Macmillan Dictionaryの例文にもWilliams sistersが出て来ました。
・Macmillan Dictionary: pit someone/something against someone/something to make someone compete or fight against someone or something else: Venus Williams will be pitted against her sister in tomorrow’s game.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: pit someone or something against someone or something: to set someone or something in opposition to someone or something. The rules of the tournament pit their team against ours. John pitted Mary against Sally in the tennis match.
・Vocabulary.com: set into opposition or rivalry: “pit a chess player against the Russian champion”
私も週に一回テニスをするのですが、最近の若い女性は男性並みに強打します。そのために腕を痛めていますが。