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They will have challengers; they will have self-inflicted difficulties to overcome. Winning the year’s final grand slam tennis tournament will not be easy. MORE: Serena’s Wimbledon titles | Looking back on the fortnight with images The U.S. Open will be played in New York’s Queens borough, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Yeah, that’s a mouthful. Just call it Flushing. Competition runs through Sept. 13. And on Wednesday, the official tournament field began to take shape....

Officials are planning to give a wildcard to the 15-year-old sensation that caught everyone’s attention when she played at Wimbledon, according to the New York Post, which cited unidentified sources. The only problem is they have to work around the WTA’s age restrictions for 15 year olds. A player can use a maximum of three wildcards when they are 15, but Gauff has already accepted her three as she attended the Miami Open, the French Open qualifiers and the Wimbledon qualifiers....

According to local reports, the victim was completing a job in the Spring Branch Woods neighborhood of Houston, Texas, when he was attacked in the early hours of Saturday afternoon on Cedardale near Gessner. Law enforcement officials told ABC13 the mail carrier was shot once in the back and again in the lower abdomen. The unnamed mailman was attended to by neighbors, who came to his aid and called 911 when they found him conscious and covered in blood....

It went like this: "Whew!" This revelation came at a Tuesday afternoon news conference courtesy of midfielder Alejandro Bedoya. Klinsmann said this to underscore that the victory was worth three points in the Group G standings, but the performance that achieved it wouldn't win any Tony Awards. The U.S. players were successful while playing below their standard in a few key areas. "I think we learned a lot of things in that game," Bedoya said....

President Joe Biden said earlier in July that the White House was “in the process” of determining when the U.S. could lift the restrictions, which prohibit European travel to the U.S., the Associated Press reported. However, the administration decided to prioritize curtailing rising cases in the country rather than allowing international travel to the U.S., the official said. For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans against travel to the United Kingdom this past Monday, given a surge in cases there....

The European Union and German authorities have yet to grant final regulatory approval on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which will bring gas across the Baltic Sea directly into Europe. Regardless of its approval, Amos Hochstein, Biden’s senior adviser for global energy security, said Russia has enough gas to increase sales to the EU and they should provide more gas “quickly.” “If Russia has the gas to supply Nord Stream 2, as they suggest, that means they have the gas to supply it through the Ukrainian GTS (gas transit system) or other pipelines as well, so they should do that,” Hochisetin said to journalists via a briefing in Washington....

Speaking at an event put on by the Carnegie Endowment think tank on Monday morning, Robert Malley, the State Department’s special envoy to Iran, discussed the U.S. approach to Iran and its nuclear capabilities. Malley said that the U.S. remains committed to preventing Iranian nuclear armament through diplomatic means, according to CNN’s Jennifer Hansler. However, as a last resort, Malley said that the U.S. would not rule out “a military option if necessary” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon....

Its next important match on the road to Rio comes Feb. 19. That’s when the U.S. will play either Mexico or Costa Rica. Win, and the Americans can book their trip to Rio. MORE: Alex Morgan’s quick goal vs. Costa Rica | Lloyd is 2015 world player of the year Carli Lloyd scored a late goal on Saturday, knocking home the rebound of her penalty kick for a 1-0 victory in Frisco, Texas....

Yun Min, Nam Hyok and Cha Kwang lead the attack for Korea in a lineup that signalled at a more organized tactical approach by coach Yong Su. Spain broke the deadlock as early as the fourth minute when Cesar Gelabert slid the ball into the path of Mohamed Moukhliss, who had made a fabulous run into the box from midfield. A sleek finish on the end of a beautiful passing move resulted in the score-line reading 1-0....

UAB is holding a news conference at 5 p.m. ET where university president Ray Watts and new athletic director Mark Ingram are expected to announce the news that football is being reinstated. MORE: Saban isn’t No. 1 anymore? | SN Preseason Top 25 When Watts announced in December that the football program would fold, he received an immediate backlash from the UAB community and well beyond. From a football player refusing to shake Watts’ hand at graduation while carrying his helmet to a task force raising millions of dollars to support the return of Blazer football, the people appear clear on what they want to happen....

The ODI matches between the UAE side and the Ireland cricket team will take place on January 8th, 10th, 12th, and 14th. The Irish team recorded a 7-wicket win against the world champions England in their previous ODI. They will be keen to continue in the same vein against the United Arab Emirates. As mentioned earlier, this series will work as a warm-up for the Ireland cricket team. Andy Balbirnie’s men will lock horns with Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League soon....

The early part of the first quarter didn’t see much action from either side. Mid-way through the quarter, however, the Steelers started assuming control by netting in points regularly; they finished the quarter with a 19-16 lead. The second quarter saw the Steelers take further control of proceedings. Astonishingly, the Capitals could score just once while their opponents netted in 12 points to eventually finish the opening half 31-18 up....

On Wednesday, the California Assembly passed AB5, a bill that would force a range of businesses to designate contractors, including ride-share drivers and food delivery workers, as employees and therefore offer them benefits. But ride-sharing company Uber responded to the legislation by claiming it would not reclassify its workers as employees — a move that necessitates claiming that its drivers are not a core component of its business. Lyft told Vox that it also did not plan to reclassify its workers....

Now, Ubisoft released an update saying that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is progressing nicely. During the company’s latest earnings report, CEO Yves Guillemot reassured fans by saying that Ubisoft is happy with the development of Beyond Good and Evil 2, and a gameplay preview is expected to release in 2021. At the moment, Guillemot didn’t go into detail as to what players can expect in the upcoming game, but fans should rest easy that everything is as it should be....

As indicated by the video below, Ubisoft has decided to not only mark down the standard edition of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to $40, but also the company has reduced the prices of other major releases such as Far Cry 5 and Rainbow Six Siege. The standard iteration of Far Cry 5, for instance, is currently going for $30, which is half off its original price. What’s more is that the standard version of Rainbow Six Siege is now 65%, which makes it $14....

The news comes courtesy of Ubisoft itself, through its earnings report for the financial year. As well as setting out both its successes of the year just gone and its immediate plans for the future, the publisher was keen to share a little about what 2018-2019 has in store. Ubisoft confirmed that the financial year will see “the release of four AAA titles with three established franchises and a new brand....

The last meeting between the two sides ended in a 4-0 victory for Liverpool on matchday 3, while the Serbians also got trounced 6-0 by PSG in Paris on matchday 2, so The Reds were understandably overwhelming favorites to triumph in the match. Liverpool are unbeaten in the Premier League, and sit top of the standings in Group C, hence they sought to further strengthen their qualification position by getting a victory in Belgrade, but their hosts had other ideas, as they outplayed their more illustrious visitors to deliver a result which nobody foresaw....

After three executive sessions spent discussing a proposed document on Holy Communion, the bishops backed off from an earlier threat to deny the sacrament to pro-choice politicians such as President Joe Biden, a fellow Catholic. Instead, they elected to mainly summarize Catholic teaching on the sacrament in The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, a 30-page text that didn’t even mention politicians. It was a huge win for Pope Francis, who has been campaigning against stronger language for months....

In a message appearing on the State Department’s Arabic-language communications account, the U.S. claimed Monday that “the international community denounced the Iranian regime’s decision to enrich uranium to a level beyond any need for peaceful purposes, supporting U.S. warnings that this step will isolate the illegal regime in Iran.” The message was accompanied by a map showing responses to Iran’s recent move by several countries including China, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom....

The database shows there was a weekly average of 1,648 deaths on Sunday, similar to the figure reached on March 9, when the weekly average was 1,663. The total number of COVID cases reported thus far in the U.S. stands at almost 42 million, and 677,988 people have died, according to Worldometer. If the weekly average number of deaths per day in the county remains at around 1,600, the total number of COVID deaths could reach 700,000 by early October....