The Gold Cup final is here, with old foes Mexico and the United States squaring off Sunday at Soldier Field in Chicago. While it will be their first Gold Cup meeting since 2011, there is plenty of familiarity between these two great rivals who are once again battling for regional supremacy.

Here's everything you need to know, from the superheroes and the sidekicks who can decide the ties to the keys for victory.

The backstory

How much time do you have? This is one of the most storied rivalries in world football, and for the sixth time, the two neighbors will meet in a Gold Cup final to determine who is the king of CONCACAF.

Mexico is a seven-time champion of the tournament, its most recent title coming in 2015. In the five previous Gold Cup final meetings between the two nations, El Tricolor has been the dominant side, with four wins.

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Since its perfect group stage, it has been a tough road for Mexico in the knockout stage of the tournament, as it needed a penalty shootout win to eliminate Costa Rica in the quarterfinals, then edged a gutsy Haiti side in extra time in the semifinals to reach this point.

The U.S. is the reigning champion of the Gold Cup, capturing the 2017 title with a 2-1 win over Jamaica. With a victory Sunday in Chicago, it would equal Mexico for most Gold Cup crowns.

Like Mexico, the U.S. picked up three wins out of three in the group stage, but was less than impressive in the quarterfinals, barely scraping past Curacao 1-0. However, it was a much improved side in the 3-1 semifinal victory over Jamaica and appears to have settled on its best starting XI for Sunday.

How they match up

Historically, when these two teams meet, Mexico is the team that owns the majority of the ball, while the U.S. will defend and look to break on the counter. Sunday won't be any different, with the likes of Andres Guardado and Jonathan dos Santos patrolling the midfield for El Tri. This won't bother the U.S. a bit. Coach Gregg Berhalter's team has allowed just one goal during the tournament and has improved its defensive shape as the tournament has progressed.

Mexico star to watch: Raul Jimenez

The Wolves forward is peaking at the right time. He has a goal in Mexico's past three games and is also very crafty with his playmaking, possessing a delicate touch that is a dream for Mexico's overlapping wingers.

U.S. star to watch: Christian Pulisic

No surprise here. The new Chelsea man has a knack for coming through in big matches, with 10 goals and nine assists in 21 competitive games for his country. With his pace, movement, touch, passing and power, Pulisic will have to be at his best for the U.S. to win.

Mexico's X factor: Uriel Antuna

There was a clear difference in the intensity of Mexico's attack in the semifinal against Haiti when Antuna came on for Roberto Alvarado. The LA Galaxy man has breathtaking pace and a good left foot to boot. His speed coming down the right flank will create plenty of chances for Jimenez. Antuna going against U.S. left-sided center-back Tim Ream could evoke memories of Pablo Barrera destroying Jonathan Bornstein in the 2011 final.

U.S. X factor: Jozy Altidore

It took only about 10 minutes for all to see how much better the U.S. is with Altidore as its center-forward. His positioning, touch and movement is better than what Gyasi Zardes can offer. He absolutely has to start for the U.S., especially considering his very good history in working with Pulisic in attack.

Mexico needs to ...

Take advantage of the U.S.'s sloppiness. While conceding just one goal in the tournament, the U.S. can periodically be careless in its own half, allow too much space or fail to clear lines. A team like Mexico will be more than happy to make it pay.

U.S. needs to ...

Hit Mexico on the flanks. El Tri has been susceptible on the wings in this tournament, which coach Gerardo Martino has acknowledged. That is where the U.S. can do its damage.

Prediction

Mexico 3-1 United States: The combination of Mexico capitalizing on U.S. mistakes, plus the playmaking of Antuna and Rodolfo Pizarro on the wings, will provide a goal-scoring feast for Jimenez.

Sarfaraz Ahmed's comments from the eve of the match, about putting up "600, 500 or 400", had become social media fodder. But as is wont to happen depressingly often these days, the rest of his answer got lost in the jokes and memes. Sarfaraz wasn't just saying that he hoped Pakistan scored as many against Bangladesh, but that the expectation to post a humungous total and then bowl out their opponents so cheaply, all to ensure they overtook New Zealand in the net run-rate stakes, was not going to be easy on the same pitch.

"We will do our best but we need to be realistic," he said on Thursday. "If you score 600, 500 or 400 score on a pitch then you think you can get the other team out for 50? It will be tough but we will still give it a try. The target is in front of us, there are no secrets that [we have] to score 500, 550 and then win by 316-run margin."

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The technically obvious point, which said much about how they actually felt about such an impossible task, got lost in the way the rest of the press conference panned out, particularly when Sarfaraz said "no comments" gruffly to one question about their progress as a team. Overnight, the comment got out of hand, and it was suggested that Sarfaraz was being daft. But he wasn't. He was right. He was thinking much the same way any other captain would have.

But when Pakistan came out of the blocks with a jog, and not a sprint, the approach shifted the spotlight from Sarfaraz's words. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman, partly because of the way Mehidy Hasan bowled in the first Powerplay, didn't - or couldn't - push on. For a team so desperate to be in the last four, there might have been more urgency, however ridiculous it sounded. "We did have a discussion about trying to get 400, but the first ten overs were crucial, and then Fakhar told us that the wicket is slow," Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said afterwards.

Watch on Hotstar (India only) - Babar Azam's 96

Sarfaraz add that Pakistan needed something miraculous. "I said yesterday it would be a miracle if we scored 400-500. I said yesterday if you are realistic about it, this tournament has seen average first innings scores around 280-300. I didn't say we'd score 500.

"We read the pitch and knew it was slow. Our target was to score as much as possible, and we scored as many as we could. Our target was to win this match and finish on a high note, which we did. Everyone executed their role well and that satisfies me."

But ending up on 315 for 9 in their 50 overs also drove home the point that, had they been a bit more adventurous, they may well have got closer to 350, if not 400. They batted at 4.6 per over for the first 25 overs, and only when they had overs producing 14, 15 and 14 between the 27th and 32nd, did they attempt to push on for a substantial score. The first time they reached more than six an over was at the end of the 46th, but Mustafizur Rahman played his part in slowing them down during the death overs.

Ultimately, though, given how their World Cup has gone, it was also practical that they settled to play for a win rather than going for broke for what appeared to be a nigh-on impossible dream. Beating Bangladesh would mean that they finished with 11 points, the same as New Zealand, only to miss out on net run rate, a metric that, in itself, has proven a hot topic of discussion over the past few days. If they had done slightly better against West Indies and Australia, the story would have been different for Pakistan.

It may speak of their limitations as a team, but not being able to win this game by 300-plus runs was never the central reason they must pack their bags and look for a flight out of London at the same time as Bangladesh. If anything, the performance of their three youngest players -Shaheen Afridi, Imam and Babar Azam - bodes well for their future. The only hope is by the time the next World Cup rolls around, they will have done enough early on not to need to set ridiculous records in the final game to claw their way to a final-four berth.

But then again, with Pakistan, could it really be any other way?

Fielding is one of cricket's grey eras even in this age of data. It is debatable how much it matters, clearly being the least important of the four main skills, behind bowling, batting and wicketkeeping. Then there is no agreement on how to measure or assess fielding. It is mostly subjective, and on occasions good fielding - reaching but failing to catch a ball that another fielder would have struggled to get near - can count as a drop.

Does fielding have an intangible effect on the energy you see in other skills? There are bowlers known to lose heart if catches keep getting dropped off them, especially at slip. Or do other skills have that intangible impact on the fielding? If bowlers are known to keep creating chances, fielders are less likely to lose energy at missing one catch. Some observers tend to look at fielding as an indicator of where a team is at, but then again if a team is good enough at the other three disciplines it can keep bouncing back from dropped catches.

Aaron Finch, Australia's captain, looks at it as a barometer himself. "It is not always the outcome," Finch says. "It's just about the intent, the intent with which you throw the ball, you attack the ball, cutting off ones in the circle. So it's always been a big part of our DNA of how we play our best one-day cricket and it says a lot about the attitude that the team brings on that day. We know [that] when we are playing our best, we are in the ring, we are cutting off ones, we are making the opposition feel uncomfortable with our movement in the ring and angles that we are moving."

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Catches are not the only part of fielding when it comes to limited-overs cricket. Runs saved are important; they can at times create wickets if they combine well with good bowling. Ground fielding, how well you back throws up, how you anticipate balls, it all adds up. While arguments can continue over the importance of fielding, teams continue to talk about its importance, about how much pride they take in fielding well.

Australia, for example, are proud they have made their way back to the top of the fielding ratings. It can be arguable if they really have, but it is not an outrageous claim by any stretch of imagination. Fielding has three complex components: catches, runs saved and run-outs. Run-outs are the most complex because they are the most prone to be considered as missed chances just because you got to the ball sooner. Also while there is a lot of practice involved in direct hits, a lot of luck goes in too.

To look at ground fielding and catching more than run-outs won't be amiss. According to ESPncricinfo's data, Australia are not on top of either of these disciplines. That doesn't mean they are not the best team, though, because those ahead of them on each count are not the same sides. Australia have saved 42 runs in the field (79 saved and 37 missed), and have taken 89.3% of their catches.

Prepare yourself for a big surprise, if you haven't followed this side closely, but West Indies have saved more runs in the field than Australia, and they have taken two catches - Sheldon Cottrell and Fabian Allen - that can possibly compete for being the grab of the tournament. England have saved five more runs than West Indies' 51, but both these sides have also been less efficient than Australia when it comes to catching. The only team more efficient than Australia with their catching is India, who have dropped only two of the 37 chances that have come their way, but their ground fielding stands at a negative of 23. New Zealand have saved 41 runs but they have also dropped 18 out of 65 catches.

"Fielding is great fun when you are doing it well. If you look around our group, we have got some of the best fielders in the world" Australia captain Aaron Finch

Clearly Australia were not this tight in the year leading up to the tournament because Finch sounds chuffed with the turnaround. "We put a lot of emphasis on our fielding," Finch says. "We pride ourselves on it. We work very hard on it. We are judged extremely hard from our coaches, JL [Justin Langer, head coach], Punter [Ricky Ponting, assistant coach], Hadds [Brad Haddin, fielding coach], on our fielding.

"So we have always prided ourselves on it, and touch wood, it's been very good in this tournament so far. There's been a lot of work that's gone into that over quite a long period of time. A lot of blood, sweat and tears in some fielding sessions that have happened over the last couple of months in particular.

"Fielding is great fun when you are doing it well, and I think that is one thing. If you look around our group, we have got some of the best fielders in the world. Obviously Davey [Warner] is not throwing like he was a few years ago [because of a previous shoulder injury], but Maxie [Glenn Maxwell] is as good as anyone in the world, Smithy [Steven Smith] is right up there. Nathan Lyon is seriously as good as anyone. And when you have got a lot of guys that can field in a lot of different positions, I think that inner circle becomes really crucial, and we are able to create a lot of energy and a lot of indecision in the ring."

It can't be denied what a joy it is to watch a smooth fielding unit where everyone knows their role and performs it perfectly: the keeper running in if a ball is hit to point, two fielders chasing that ball should a relay throw be needed, square leg behind the keeper to collect the over-throw, the ball reaching the bowler quickly and saving over-rate hassles. Whether it is the cause or the effect, it is that joy that sides are after.

University of Hawaii linebacker Scheyenne Sanitoa died Thursday, athletic director David Matlin said in a statement.

Sanitoa was 21. No cause of death was released.

A redshirt junior from Fagatogo, American Samoa, Sanitoa appeared in 12 games last season, including two starts, and finished with 30 tackles.

"Scheyenne was a tremendous young man, and we are devastated by this news," Matlin said in the statement released Friday.

According to Matlin, the football team met Friday to discuss Sanitoa's death. Campus counselors were present at the meeting and will continue to be available to the team, Matlin said.

"It's always heartbreaking to lose a member of our UH ohana, particularly when it's one of our young student-athletes," Matlin said. "Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with his family, his friends, his teammates and to all those who knew and loved him."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For the final time in his illustrious career, CC Sabathia will be going to the All-Star Game.

Major League Baseball announced Friday that Sabathia, the New York Yankees' left-handed pitcher who will retire at the end of this season, will be participating in events associated with next week's game at Cleveland's Progressive Field.

A Cleveland Indians first-round draft pick in 1998, Sabathia spent parts of the first eight seasons of his career pitching at the ballpark before he was traded to Milwaukee late in the 2008 season. The next year, he signed as a free agent with New York, helping lead the Yankees to their most recent World Series.

"Major League Baseball normally doesn't do things like this," Sabathia said. "So to be the guy that they're honoring is good. It feels awesome."

Although he was not voted into the All-Star Game, Sabathia and his family were invited to the game by the commissioner's office to be "recognized for his contributions to the game and his longtime service to the community." He'll be honored before the game Tuesday.

Sabathia first learned about the league's hope to have him at the game through American League team manager and Boston Red Sox skipper Alex Cora. On a phone call a couple of weeks ago, Cora asked Sabathia if he'd like to be at the game. The 38-year-old pitcher said yes.

He still isn't sure what his full role will be at the game, but Sabathia envisions it will entail being the league's primary ambassador of various events during the week.

"I just know I'll be there," Sabathia said. "Maybe, I guess, like Alex said, to be like an honorary coach or something, just to be around. Be there for the Home Run Derby, be there for the game. But just to be around and to have MLB want to recognize my career is a good thing."

Sabathia's current manager and former Indians teammate, Aaron Boone, said he knew something was in the works for a while to get the southpaw back to his first big league city for the Midsummer Classic.

"Very deserving, very fitting," Boone said. "It'll be a lot of fun to watch it from afar."

Added commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement: "We are delighted that CC and his family will join us in Cleveland, where his major league career began. We look forward to celebrating his many accomplishments during our All-Star Game festivities."

Sabathia has made six All-Star Game appearances throughout his career and has won a Cy Young Award. Earlier this season, he surpassed the 3,000-strikeout plateau and earned his 250th career win. Having accomplished both feats could be enough to make him an eventual Hall of Famer.

WASHINGTON -- Anthony Rendon is skipping the All-Star Game.

On Friday evening, MLB announced that Rendon has bowed out of next week's Midsummer Classic in order to rest his banged-up body. The Washington Nationals' third baseman will be replaced on the National League roster for Tuesday's game by utility man Max Muncy of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Muncy is hitting .276 with 21 homers and 59 RBIs. This marks his first All-Star appearance.

In the American League, Cleveland Indians starter Shane Bieber and Oakland Athletics reliever Liam Hendriks have been named to the squad as replacements for starters Mike Minor of the Texas Rangers and Charlie Morton of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Morton and Minor are starting Sunday so they are ineligible to pitch on Tuesday.

Rendon, who had never been an All-Star prior to this season, finished fifth in the primary balloting behind starter Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Josh Donaldson and Justin Turner.

Earlier this week, two days after being selected as one of two NL reserves at the hot corner (along with Bryant), the 29-year-old veteran told reporters that he was considering skipping the game.

On April 20, Rendon was hit by a pitch on his left elbow. Ten days later, he was placed on the injured list with an elbow contusion and wound up missing 14 games due to the injury. Although his production at the plate hasn't suffered, there have been times over the past few weeks where he's appeared limited on the basepaths.

"I've been dealing with it for a while," Rendon said Tuesday when asked how long he's been hampered. "Definitely a few weeks now, and I'm pretty sure you can go back and watch the games. I haven't been running out balls as much as I usually do in the past, so you can guys can go back and try to figure that out. I'm not going to release that."

Entering Friday's action, Rendon was hitting .310 with 20 home runs and 60 RBIs. His 1.022 OPS ranked fifth in the majors and was tops among all third basemen. Since returning from the injured list May 7, he has played in every game for the Nationals.

Hendriks is 3-0 with three saves and a 3.29 ERA. As a reliever, he has a league-leading 0.96 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 38 appearances.

Bieber is 7-3 with a 3.54 ERA.

The host Indians now have four All-Star representatives: Bieber, shortstop Francisco Lindor, reliever Brad Hand and first baseman Carlos Santana.

Major League Baseball has suspended Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Odúbel Herrera for the rest of the season for violating MLB's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

Herrera won't appeal the decision, according to MLB. His unpaid suspension will be retroactive to June 24 and will cover 85 regular-season games and any postseason games that his club may play in 2019.

"Having reviewed all of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Herrera violated the Policy and should be subject to discipline in the form of an unpaid suspension that will cover the remainder of the 2019 season," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement issued Friday.

On Wednesday, domestic violence charges against Herrera were dropped following a hearing at Atlantic City (New Jersey) Municipal Court.

A state prosecutor told reporters that Herrera's girlfriend did not want to proceed with the case, leading to the decision to dismiss.

"Today, I accepted a suspension from Major League Baseball resulting from my inappropriate behavior," Herrera said in a statement. "I acted in an unacceptable manner and am terribly disappointed in myself. I alone am to blame for my actions.

"I've taken meaningful steps to assure that nothing like this will ever happen again. I have learned from this experience, and I have grown as a person. I apologize to the Phillies' organization, my teammates and all my fans. I look forward to rejoining the Phillies once my suspension is served and to continuing to work on being a better partner, teammate and person."

Herrera was ordered by the court to complete counseling within 60 days as a condition of the dismissal of the charges.

Herrera had been accused of domestic assault against his girlfriend on May 27 at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Officers said they found the 20-year-old woman with "visible signs of injury to her arms and neck that was sustained after being assaulted by her boyfriend."

Herrera, 27, had been facing charges of simple assault and knowingly causing bodily injury.

Following the arrest, Herrera was placed on administrative leave by MLB. He has not played for the Phillies since May 26.

"The Phillies fully support the decision by the Commissioner's Office to suspend Odubel Herrera for violating MLB's Joint Domestic Violence Policy," the team said in a statement. "All instances of domestic violence are abhorrent and unacceptable, and we unequivocally support Baseball's collective efforts to prevent domestic abuse. We are encouraged by Odubel's acceptance of his discipline as an indication of his willingness to learn from this and change his behavior."

Herrera will lose $2,634,409 of his $5 million salary, the amount due over the final 98 days of the 186-day regular season.

He is in the third year of a $30.5 million, five-year contract and is due to make $7 million next season and $10 million in 2021. Philadelphia has club options for 2022 and `23.

An All-Star center fielder in 2016, Herrera hit .222 with one home run and 16 RBIs in 39 games this season. He missed time in April with a hamstring injury.

Since MLB's domestic violence policy was instituted in 2016, suspension lengths have varied widely. San Diego Padres pitcher Jose Torres has the longest one at 100 games, while it has been as low as 15 games for Jeurys Familia (2016) and Steven Wright (2018).

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

American moves to No.4 on world all-time list on night of many top marks and some superb sprints in Switzerland

On an evening of many top performances at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, Noah Lyles stole the show as he became the fourth-fastest man in 200m history.

Clocking 19.50 (-0.1m/sec), the American ran the quickest time since the 2012 Olympic final and now sits behind only Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Michael Johnson on the global all-time rankings.

Powering away off the bend, 21-year-old Lyles improved his previous best by 0.15 of a second for a clear win ahead of Alex Quiñónez with an Ecuadorian record of 19.87 and Canada’s Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown with 19.92 and 19.95 respectively.

Such was the standard, world champion Ramil Guliyev’s 20.01 only placed him fifth.

“The track here is burning up,” said Lyles. “I’m feeling good here. Me and my coach have been working really hard.

“It was a good, well executed race. It was about getting out strong. There is nothing better than seeing the accomplishments of what you have put in. It’s time for the next race.”

There were also impressive times in the women’s 100m as two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce continued her return to top form by clocking 10.74 (0.2m/sec) for a time just 0.04 off her PB and 0.01 off the world-leading mark she shares with her fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson from the national championships.

In second, Dina Asher-Smith ran 10.91 for her second-fastest ever time behind her British record of 10.85 set when winning the European title last summer.

Marie-Josée Ta Lou was third in 10.93, while Dafne Schippers was fourth in 11.04.

“It is a long season this year, I am feeling great,” said Fraser-Pryce. “Let’s see how the season progresses. I will happily embrace anything that the season will throw at me.”

Asher-Smith, who had earlier received a yellow card after the race was declared a faulty start, said: “My coach will be frustrated about my start. I was annoyed when I crossed the finish line. At the Diamond League in London I want to run as fast as I can and win. I have a season’s best so I can’t complain.”

Justin Gatlin won the non-Diamond League men’s 100m in 9.92 from Mike Rodgers with 10.01, while Gabrielle Thomas came through to win the non-Diamond League women’s 200m in 22.69, just pipping Britain’s Jodie Williams who clocked a season’s best of 22.75 after PBs this season in the 100m and 400m. Ashleigh Nelson was fourth in a PB of 22.85.

Earlier on and Diamond League track action had kicked off in fine style as world silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser won the 400m in a meeting record of 49.17, just holding off a fast-finishing Aminatou Seyni of Niger with a national record of 49.19.

Britain’s Laviai Nielsen was fourth in 51.31, a time which is her second-quickest ever after the 51.21 she ran twice at the European Champs and she later explained how she only got the race call up two days before.

Over in the men’s pole vault, an exciting contest was won by Piotr Lisek. As the bar remained at 6.01m for a jump off, the world silver medallist cleared that height for a world lead, meeting record and Polish record as world champion Sam Kendricks settled for second with 5.95m.

Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie both cleared a best of 5.81m.

After first-time clearances up to 2.00m, Mariya Lasitskene needed three attempts at 2.02m but with that height cleared and the win secured, she had three goes at a would-have-been PB 2.07m.

An exciting 1500m was won by Timothy Cheruiyot as the Kenyan world silver medallist ran a world-leading meeting record of 3:28.77 for victory after clocking a rapid 1:49.4 at 800m.

Double European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen finished strongly to pass six athletes on the last lap and finish second, clocking a 3:30.16 PB to move from fifth to third on the world under-20 all-time list.

No only does that time take more than a second off his own European under-20 record, it is also faster than Reyes Estévez’s European under-23 record of 3:30.87 and moves him to eighth on the senior European all-time list.

Britain’s Jake Wightman ran 3:34.40 for his third-quickest ever time and a qualifying mark for the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

There was drama in the men’s 5000m as Olympic and world medallist Hagos Gebrhiwet stopped running with a lap to go. Kicking with 700m remaining, he thought he had the race won but there was still a lap left and double world indoor 3000m champion Yomif Kejelcha moved past his celebrating compatriot to win in 13:00.56 from Selemon Barega with 13:01.99.

After rejoining the race following his 54-second penultimate lap, Gebrhiwet eventually clocked 13:09.59 in 10th.

A strong finish secured 2015 world silver medallist Shamier Little 400m hurdles success as she clocked 53.73 ahead of Zuzana Hejnová’s 54.11, while there was 110m hurdles victory for Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega as he ran 13.05 ahead of Daniel Roberts’ 13.11. Andrew Pozzi was fourth in a season’s best of 13.28 for his fastest time in two years.

The men’s 800m was won by Commonwealth champion Wycliffe Kinyamal in 1:43.78 from Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich with 1:43.93 as Britain’s Guy Learmonth placed 10th in 1:45.86 for a mark just outside the Doha World Championships qualifying standard (1:45.80).

Nelly Jepkosgei clocked 1:59.54 to pip Halimah Nakaayi with 1:59.97 in the non-Diamond League women’s 800m.

There were two throws victories for Germany as 2015 world champion Christina Schwanitz won the shot put with 19.04m, while European champion Christin Hussong won the javelin with 66.59m.

Olympic champion Caterine Ibargüen got the win in the triple jump with a season’s best of 14.89m to world champion Yulimar Rojas’ 14.82m, while world indoor winner Juan Miguel Echevarría secured long jump success with his 8.32m from the second round.

The final event of the meet, the women’s 4x100m, was won by Netherlands in 42.33, just short of the 42.21 world lead.

Andy Murray and Serena Williams's highly anticipated match in the Wimbledon mixed doubles will not take place on Friday as originally thought.

The match was cancelled after 15-year-old American Coco Gauff fought back to win her singles match against Polona Hercog in three sets on Centre Court.

Britain's Murray and American Williams were due to play German Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi of Chile.

The match looks set to be played on Saturday instead.

Both players will face the prospect of two matches in one day, with Murray playing in the men's doubles and Williams in singles action.

The 32-year-old Scot will play his second-round match alongside France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert not before 13:00 BST on court two.

Seven-time singles champion Williams, 37, opens on Court One at 13:00 against Germany's Julia Gorges in their third-round match.

The tantalising partnership between two of the sport's most high-profile stars has been one of the main talking points at Wimbledon since it was first mooted last week and then finally confirmed on Tuesday.

Anticipation was bubbling around the grounds all day - particularly on Centre Court, where many ticket holders felt confident they were going to see Murray and Williams in tandem.

That was despite the match not being assigned to a court, and not to be played before 17:30, as Wimbledon organisers waited until the picture became clearer on Centre and Court One before deciding where to stage it.

However, the scheduling of two shorter women's matches - Simona Halep's win against Victoria Azarenka and Gauff facing Slovenian Hercog - as second and third on Centre suggested the All England Club was hoping to showcase the blockbuster pairing on its 15,000-seater main arena.

That is how it looked to be playing out with Gauff trailing by a set and a break at 18:40, before she fought off two match points to take the match into a decider.

So it meant the only people to see Murray and Williams in action on Friday were a small handful of family - including Murray's mum Judy, friends and journalists - when they practised for the first time earlier that afternoon.

The pair had never hit together before a relaxed session in a quiet part of the Aorangi practice courts at the All England Club.

Although there were plenty of smiles and jokes exchanged, there was also a serious edge to proceedings as two of the sport's fiercest competitors prepared for what could be another assault on a Wimbledon title.

After warming up with some serves, the pair moved alongside each other behind the net for the first time and played points against Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou and hitting partner Jarmere Jenkins.

The session moved on to the pair exchanging volleys as they practised their net games before walking off court at 16:20 after almost an hour.