Andy Murray chuckled as he explained the very best part about owning a pair of Grand Slam titles, one from the U.

NEW YORK -- Andy Murray chuckled as he explained the very best part about owning a pair of Grand Slam titles, one from the U. Tony Allen Jersey .S. Open last year, the other from Wimbledon last month. No more of those nagging, oft-repeated queries -- the ones he heard over and over and over again. "Not too much for me has changed. But the one thing thats been nice is that, literally for five or six years, I did a press conference before every tournament and after every single match, and I got asked that question, Id say, 90 per cent of the time: Why have you never won Wimbledon? When are you going to win Wimbledon? Why have you not won a Grand Slam?" Murray said in an interview with The Associated Press. "So thats the thing that, for me, has been the nicest: Not having to answer that question," he added, standing outside the locker rooms at Arthur Ashe Stadium, not far from the oversized colour picture and silver plaque that commemorate his 2012 victory at Flushing Meadows. "I can just play tennis now and not have to worry about that anymore." Thats right. When the years last major tennis tournament begins on the U.S. Opens blue hard courts Monday, Murray will have other concerns. For example: What might it feel like to defend a Grand Slam championship? Thats something hes never tried to do before, of course. Or how many of these can he win? Or, really, will he even be able to win one more? Yes, for a guy who has accomplished so much over the past 13 months, redefining his career and place in the game, Murray still sounds very much like someone harbouring quite a bit of uncertainty. His success at the U.S. Open in 2012 did, after all, make him the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win a Grand Slam title. His success at Wimbledon in July, as everyone knows by now, made him the first British man since Perry 77 years ago to earn the singles trophy at the All England Club. Toss in a London Olympics gold medal, and its been quite a run. "Hes turned into a great player. Hes always been a good hitter of the ball, been a great mover. I think mentally hes a bit better now," 14-time major champion Pete Sampras said recently. "Now he feels like he belongs." Maybe. But Murray also remembers what came before. He remembers -- and, much to his chagrin, there was a time when he frequently was reminded of it by others -- that he lost each of the first four Grand Slam finals he reached. "I know how long it took me to win one and how hard it is to win them. I know its possible I may not win another one," the 26-year-old from Scotland said, his tone and facial expression earnest. "So I just want to keep trying to put myself in position to win Grand Slams and hopefully I can do the same again here." Indeed, Murray anticipates some shakiness at the start of the U.S. Open. Instead of declaring that he will step on court with the bravado of a defending champion, Murray wonders whether his play might be affected in a bad way at the outset of this U.S. Open because of what happened a year ago. "Depending on how the tournament goes, at the start of the tournament, I expect to be pretty nervous and feel maybe more pressure than I have in some years," he said. "But then I would hope, if I can do well and get through the first few rounds, that it would actually give me confidence. Once I get myself into the tournament, I may calm down and actually start feeling more confident that I can win the event. Whereas before, it might have actually been the opposite. I might have felt OK at the start, and when I got closer to the end of the tournament, felt more pressure and more nerves and less confidence." The 2012 womens champion, Serena Williams, owns 16 Grand Slam titles, four at the U.S. Open. Usually when she loses at a major tournament, the sting sticks around for a while. That was the case with this years Wimbledon, where her 34-match winning streak surprisingly ended with a fourth-round exit. "I was obviously bothered. I wanted to do better. I was disappointed. Im still disappointed," Williams said, 7 1/2 weeks after that setback. "But I had opportunities and I didnt take them in the match. I have to realize that I have to just be better and learn from the experience. Its not the end of the world. I can always do better and keep growing." Asked what advice she might offer Murray about attempting to repeat as champion at a Grand Slam tournament, the No. 1-seeded Williams said: "For me, its not about defending. Its about: This is the U.S Open. I want to try to win this title. Last year was last year. Now its time to try to have fun this year. Thats how I look at it." Murray is seeded No. 3, and the expectation is that he or one of the men ahead of him, No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal, will hold the trophy after the final, which is scheduled for Sept. 9. Its the first time since 1954 that the tournament is supposed to end on a Monday (the mens final was played on a Monday each of the past five years, but that was because of rain delays). That trio divvied up the seasons first three Grand Slam titles, with Djokovic winning his fourth at the Australian Open, and Nadal his eighth at the French Open. They also have split the past three U.S. Open titles (Nadal won in 2010, Djokovic in 2011). Another past U.S. Open champion, Roger Federer, is seeded only No. 7 this time, his lowest spot in New York since 2002. Federer is coming off a second-round loss at Wimbledon, ending his record run of 36 consecutive major quarterfinal appearances. Another streak remains intact, though: The U.S. Open will be Federers 56th Grand Slam tournament in a row, tying the mens record. Federer turned 32 this month, and hes dealt with a bothersome back and a brief experiment with a different racket, while losing matches to a couple of guys ranked outside the top 100. Any chance he could add to his 17 Grand Slam trophies? "At this stage," said John McEnroe, a seven-time major champion and ESPN analyst, "its going to be quite, quite difficult for him to win another one." A photograph of Federer hangs in a hall near the Arthur Ashe Stadium locker rooms, staring right at Murrays poster across the way. The big difference: Federer won the U.S. Open five times, every year from 2004-08. "I came here for the first time when I was 15. You walk down these corridors, and you look at all the great players who have played here," Murray said. "To be up on the wall next to them is a nice feeling." Allen Iverson Grizzlies Jersey . Ryu (8-3) allowed a run and three hits in six innings and struck out six in his 13th start. In his first 13 starts last season -- his first in the major leagues -- the left-hander was 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA. This was the ninth time this year that Ryu has allowed fewer than three earned runs, and he is 7-0 in those games. Shareef Abdur-Rahim Grizzlies Jersey . Alexander was released last week by the Edmonton Eskimos, where he spent the past three seasons at safety. He had 121 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles and seven interceptions in 51 regular-season and three playoff games. http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.com/Zach-Randolph-Grizzlies-Jersey/ . The Major League Soccer teams were scheduled to play on Saturday night, but their game was rescheduled after Stu Tudor was hit during a pregame storm. The 54-year-old lieutenant in the Columbus Fire Department is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Ohio State Medical Center.MADRID, Spain -- Alfredo Di Stefano, the player Real Madrid has hailed as the most important component in its mid-20th century ascent to becoming a global football powerhouse, has died. He was 88. Real Madrid said in a statement that Di Stefano, its honorary president, died on Monday afternoon at Gregorio Maranon hospital, two days after a heart attack. Di Stefano turned 88 on Friday. The following day, he had a heart attack on a street near Madrids Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Paramedics were able to resuscitate him after 18 minutes, but he spent the following days in a coma. Renowned for his speed, versatility and strategic grasp of the game, he helped Madrid attain five straight European Champions Cups and was voted European player of the year in 1957 and 59. In a career spanning five clubs in three countries -- Argentina, Colombia and Spain -- from 1945-1966, Di Stefano scored 789 goals in 1,090 matches. In the process he claimed top-scorer status once in the Argentine league, twice in Colombias league and five times in Spain. Only Raul Gonzalez has scored more goals for Real Madrid than Di Stefano, who is often recognized as the clubs first "galactico." However, as FIFA acknowledges on its official website, "statistics will show that Alfredo Di Stefano is one of the worlds greatest ever goal scorers, but the bare facts only tell part of the story." FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Di Stefano "was my favourite player." French great Michel Platini, now president of the footballs European governing body, said Di Stefano was "superb technically, possessed outstanding speed, and was a splendid goal scorer." "Together with his gifted teammates, he helped invent modern football." Those who Di Stefano recall a straight-talking character who believed success on the field came through physical effort and dedication. "I dont want to be idolized, I just want to play. And to do that you have to run and sweat," he said. His modesty in the face of overwhelming sporting success won him the admiration of many. "I think he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, football player ever," England great Bobby Charlton said. Born July 4, 1926, in the Barracas suburb of Buenos Aires, near the port where British sailors introduced football to Argentina, Di Stefano learned the game in what he called "the academy of the streets." "In our neighbourhood we used to hold major football sessions that went on until it got dark, with everyone playing against each other," he said. "Pope Francis and I went to the same school," Di Stefano said when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pontiff, adding the two likely played together as children. Di Stefanos father, Alfredo, the son of an immigrant from the Italian island of Capri, was a loyal fan of River Plate. De Stefanos mother, Eulalia Laulhe Gilmont, was of French and Irish ancestry. Having trialed successfully for River Plate, he turned professional in 1945, joining Colombias Millonarios six years later. He won six league titles for the two clubs. His turn of speed soon had fans chanting, "Help, here comes the jet-propelled blonde arrow," ("Saeta Rubia," in Spanish) a nickname Di Stefano retained all his life. He played in SSpain for the first time in 1952 and dazzled the crowd at a tournament commemorating Real Madrids 50th anniversary, a fateful encounter. Lorenzen Wright Grizzlies Jersey. Barcelona signed Di Stefano in 1953 after agreeing a transfer with River Plate, but the move was thrown into doubt when Madrid also negotiated his transfer -- with Millonarios. Although the Spanish federation authorized Di Stefano to play half of his four-year contract with each club, Barcelona opted out, alleging pressure from the Madrid-based ruling military dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco. In his first season Di Stefano helped Madrid win its second league title, ending a 21-year drought. Within three years, he helped Madrid lift the inaugural European Cup by scoring in a 4-3 win over Frances Stade Reims. The arrival at Madrid of Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas in 1958 led to an attacking partnership of dynamic effectiveness which allowed the club to retain the European title through to 1960, a record yet to be beaten. Di Stefanos last final in 1960 saw possibly his finest match. Before 127,000 spectators, he scored three times in Madrids 7-3 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt. The same year, he helped Madrid win the inaugural Intercontinental Cup between European and South American champions with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Uruguays Penarol. He topped the Spanish leagues scoring standings in five of his 11 seasons with Madrid. He scored 49 times in 58 European matches, a record in the competition that stood for more than four decades. Di Stefano left Madrid in 1964 to join Barcelona-based Espanyol for a two-year spell before retiring at age 40. "Football brought me so many beautiful moments. It built my life," said Di Stefano, who also played for Argentina and Spain. But World Cup glory eluded him. Argentina didnt play in 1950 and 54, while Spain didnt qualify in 1958. Di Stefano carried an injury to Chile in 1962 and did not play. So, his only international success was a 1947 Copa America victory with Argentina. In 1963, Di Stefano was held captive by a guerrilla group during Madrids tour of Venezuela. He was taken at gunpoint from his hotel room by the publicity-seeking National Liberation Army Front and released unhurt two days later. As a coach, he led Boca Juniors and River Plate to Argentine league titles, and won the European Cup Winners Cup, the Spanish league title and the Copa del Rey with Valencia. He also managed Madrid between 1982 and 1984. Madrid appointed Di Stefano honorary president in 2000 and erected a statue in his honour in 2008. A diabetic, Di Stefano fought ill-health in old age and underwent a quadruple bypass with a pacemaker implanted in December 2005 after a heart attack. In May 2013 his children asked a court to rule him mentally incapable after he announced plans to marry a woman 50 years his junior. "I dont care that my children are against it," Di Stefano, then 86, said of his plans to marry 36-year-old Gina Gonzalez. His interest in football never diminished. At 86 he still maintained a regular column in Spanish sports newspaper Marca. In it, he revealed that he had missed Pope Francis appointment. "I must confess that while everyone else watched the white smoke live," he wrote. 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