nse last season and finished 17-2 despite losing Ben

Andy Murray has closed the gap to Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings to less than 2,500 points as he bids to become world No. 1 for the first time.Murray clinched his sixth title of the year after beating Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the final of the Shanghai Masters last week.Bautista Agut had beaten Djokovic in the semifinals of that tournament and that has helped second-placed Murray to cut the gap to the Serbian in the latest world rankings.Murray has 10,485 points following his Beijing triumph while Djokovic -- who has won seven titles in 2016 including the French Open and the Australian Open -- is top with 12,900 points.Wimbledon and Olympic champion Murray, 29, was almost 9,000 points adrift of Djokovic in April and more than 4,500 points behind just a month ago.With Djokovic now set to take some time off before returning at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris at the end of October, Murray could further cut the 12-time grand slam winners advantage at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.The Scot won the tournament in 2014 and was due to start his 2016 campaign in Austria against Slovakian Martin Klizan on Wednesday.Should Murray win there and in France, he could end Djokovics 27-month reign as world No. 1 as early as Nov. 7, although that will depend also on the 29-year-old Serbian not reaching the final in Paris. 49ers Super Bowl Jerseys . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Mike Person Super Bowl Jersey . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. https://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Tarvarius-Moore-Jersey/ . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Ahkello Witherspoon Super Bowl Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Jason Verrett Super Bowl Jersey ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Kelvin Benjamin made an impressive return to the football field Thursday night as the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers opened training camp.In his first practice since tearing the ACL in his left knee last August, Benjamin made four tough catches, reminding the more than 22,445 fans at Gibbs Stadium of just how valuable the 6-foot-5, 245-pound wide receiver is to the Panthers offense.Coach Ron Rivera admitted he was impressed.I dont want to say he was in top form, but he was in pretty doggone good form, Rivera said.Benjamin had 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2014, but tore his ACL last August at training camp and missed the teams run to the Super Bowl.Benjamin ran swift, sharp routes and showed no ill effects from last years surgery. He leaped in the air to snag two passes and reached behind to grab another.Im just happy for him, Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl said. Its a confidence builder. You go out and perform like he did, make catches over the middle, make contested catches with somebody draped on him, it was huge. Anytime you get that first catch out of the way, its huge, especially coming off an injury.Benjamin was not made available for interviews.The Pantheers had the leagues top scoring offense last season and finished 17-2 despite losing Benjamin.dddddddddddd The team is excited about adding him to the mix.Kelvins retention as far what were doing, he handled that really well by the way he ran the routes and attacked the football, Rivera said. There will be a lot of good things for us to see on tape.The 25-year-old Benjamin wasnt the only wide receiver to have a solid night following a return from an injury.Stephen Hill, who also tore an ACL in his knee last year in training camp, and Philly Brown, who is coming off shoulder surgery, also made big catches during practice.Im just so proud of those guys, Proehl said. Theyve worked so hard, and to see them go out there and do what they did tonight, it warms my heart. Theyre like my kids. To see them go out there and perform like they did, thats such a confidence builder for them.Rivera said that starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei was held out of practice as a precautionary measure after his hamstring tightened up in conditioning tests on Wednesday.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '