meet one's match

To encounter one's equal or superior in ability, skill, etc., especially in a competitive setting. Stevenson used to be the dominant player on the tour, but it looks like she has finally met her match in the young newcomer. A lot of kids who are used to being the smartest student in school are a little shell-shocked when they meet their match in college.

Encounter someone equal in ability to oneself, as in The chess champion was about to meet his match in a computer. This expression originated about 1300 as find one's match, but the alliterative meet was being used by the mid-1500s and has survived.

To encounter a person who is one’s equal in ability. This term began life as to find one’s match, a locution that dates back to the fourteenth century or earlier. “He fond his mecche,” wrote Robert Manning of Brunnea (The Story of England, ca. 1330). By the late sixteenth century the alliterative meet had been substituted and has survived to the present day.