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LONDON (AP) — Imagine what the reception will be like for Andy Murray on Monday when he first strides onto the green grass of Centre Court at Wimbledon.

A year ago, Murray became the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the singles title at a tournament the locals refer to simply as "The Championships," ending a nation's long wait and sparking talk of a knighthood.

This year, Murray gets the defending champion's honor of playing the fortnight's first match on the most famous tennis court in the world. Seems safe to say that 15,000 or so of his closest friends will greet him with a full-throated roar.

"As the time gets nearer, and, you know, I get ready to play the first match on Monday, I'll definitely ... be excited about it," Murray said. "I will be nervous. It (is) an experience; something I have never experienced before. Players have talked about it in the past, that it's a great experience. But it can also be a nerve-racking one."

Murray had a slow start this season, coming off back surgery, and he hasn't reached a final since Wimbledon 50 weeks ago.

But he showed he's on the way back to peak form by reaching the semifinals at the French Open.

Performing that well on clay would seem to bode well for what he can do on grass.

"I expect to play well there. I'm really looking forward to going back. I think it will give me a lot of positive energy," Murray said. "I'm glad I'm back playing to a level that was able to get me through to the last stage of Slams."

As for how Murray will handle whatever jitters accompany his first trip back to the site of his most significant victory, his peers think he'll be just fine.

"The way he's got himself back into shape again, I think he can really believe again. That's what's most important now," said Roger Federer, who won seven of his record 17 major championships at Wimbledon and is coming off a grass title at Halle, Germany. "(Being) defending champion is never an easy thing. But then again, he played so well on grass the last few years. ... I would feel comfortable if I was Andy at this point."

Novak Djokovic, the 2011 champion and runner-up to Murray last year, agreed.

"I'm sure that Andy, with all the experience he has playing in the big matches, and especially here in front of his home crowd, understands and knows the way how to handle the pressure and expectation," Djokovic said. "So I expect him to do well."

The other reigning singles champion, France's Marion Bartoli, will not try to defend her title, announcing her retirement at 28, less than six weeks after the 2013 final. That actually fits well with the quirky career of Bartoli, who certainly did things her way, down to her two-fisted strokes for forehands, backhands and volleys.

While Murray's baseline game is rather conventional by today's standards, his coaching decisions have been groundbreaking. After parting in March with Ivan Lendl — whose hiring was followed by those of fellow past greats of the game Stefan Edberg (by Federer) and Boris Becker (by Djokovic) — Murray picked former women's No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo as a replacement this month.

"All I'm interested in is to be able to help him (reach) his goals," Mauresmo said. "That's about it."

Murray, who grew up in Dunblane, Scotland, has made plain that those aims are primarily about winning more Grand Slam trophies.

He earned his first at the 2012 U.S. Open, shortly after winning a gold medal at the London Olympics. Those triumphs followed his loss to Federer at Wimbledon that year. In 2013, Murray beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final to end the 77-year drought.

Scotland's vote in September about whether to break away from Britain — Murray has steadfastly avoided weighing in — will be a popular topic of conversation around London this summer, and with England's early elimination from the World Cup, the attention on "Our Andy" at Wimbledon figures to be as strong as ever.

"Anytime you taste what it feels like to win it once, you obviously want to win it again. So there's an element of pressure you put on yourself, for starters, because you sort of want to see what that feels like at least one more time," said ESPN analyst John McEnroe, who won Wimbledon three times. "From that standpoint, he's going to be feeling pressure. Clearly now once people know he can do it, they're going to think he should do it again."

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Kevin McCarthy seems likely to inherit defeated Rep. Eric Cantor's No. 2 House Republican leadership job, but GOP restiveness along ideological and regional lines is on full display in a wide-open race for the party's next-ranking post of majority whip.

McCarthy, R-Calif., who has climbed quickly since arriving in Congress in 2007, seemed likely to become majority leader when House Republican lawmakers meet privately Thursday to elect their leadership lineup for the rest of this year.

"I have the courage to lead but the wisdom to listen," McCarthy, 49, told a reporter Wednesday. As the party's whip counter and the chief recruiter of 2010 candidates who helped the GOP capture House control that November, he said, "I understand people's frustrations."

Those frustrations seem plentiful as Republicans continue debating the meaning of Cantor's startling loss to a political neophyte last week in what was supposed to be a routine GOP primary in his Richmond, Virginia, area district. The next day, Cantor announced he would step down as majority leader on July 31, setting off the scramble for leadership jobs.

The contest to replace McCarthy as whip seemed a tough call among three rivals, with added doses of unpredictability because personal relationships matter and because Thursday's voting is by secret ballot.

The contenders are Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, leader of an organization of House conservatives; Peter Roskam of Illinois, McCarthy's deputy whip; and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, a second-term lawmaker who may attract votes from tea party lawmakers who feel Scalise has been too cooperative with party leaders.

Challenging McCarthy in a long-shot bid was second-term Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho. A conservative rebel who refused to back John Boehner, R-Ohio, as speaker on the first day of the new Congress in 2013, Labrador, 46, said the current leadership team must be changed.

"If you vote for the status quo tomorrow, you will prove that we are still not listening" to disgruntled voters, Labrador told fellow Republicans in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, according to remarks distributed by his staff. Such a result would imperil GOP efforts to win Senate control this November and capture the White House in 2016, Labrador said.

Though that sentiment was widely shared among some of the more conservative GOP lawmakers, many others said now was the time for calm. That — and lightning-fast moves by McCarthy last week to solidify support — seemed to make the majority leader race uncompetitive.

"Given the way Cantor is going out, it's important to show a little bit of stability," said Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., who said he backed McCarthy.

A McCarthy victory would elevate the genial one-time deli owner who became a congressional aide and then a California state legislator before being elected to the House from Bakersfield, California. McCarthy has been close to Cantor, though his 72 percent rating by the American Conservative Union for key votes last year was less than Cantor's 84 percent.

Several factors were roiling the race for whip, including regional sensitivities.

With McCarthy's expected ascension and both Boehner and No. 4 GOP leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state unchallenged, that left only the No. 3 job available for a lawmaker not from a state President Barack Obama carried in 2012. In a nod to that, Roskam promised colleagues that if he became whip, he would appoint a deputy from a Republican-leaning state.

Also glaringly missing from the team was a lawmaker from the solidly GOP South. That omission could give Scalise an edge, though it wasn't the dominant factor for everyone.

"That's assuming somebody would go to the table and represent a particular region," said Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., who said he was undecided. "That's our job," he said referring to lawmakers.

The issue of immigration was also coloring the voting. Some conservatives were abandoning Labrador — despite his 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union — because he was part of a bipartisan group that unsuccessfully tried to craft an immigration compromise. Some tea party lawmakers equated that effort with granting amnesty to some immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

No matter how Thursday's races ends, many are expecting new contests when GOP lawmakers meet again after the November elections to choose leaders for the Congress that begins in January.

"What I can guarantee is there will be some races in the fall. I don't think anybody will be uncontested," said freshman Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C.

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Associated Press writers David Espo and Erica Werner contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Saturday night accused President Barack Obama and other Democrats of waging wars against religious liberty and education and said that a rebellion is brewing in the U.S. with people ready for "a hostile takeover" of the nation's capital.

Jindal spoke at the annual conference hosted by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a group led by longtime Christian activist Ralph Reed. Organizers said more than 1,000 evangelical leaders attended the three-day gathering. Republican officials across the political spectrum concede that evangelical voters continue to play a critical role in GOP politics.

"I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States," Jindal said, "where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren."

The governor said there was a "silent war" on religious liberty being fought in the U.S. — a country that he said was built on that liberty.

"I am tired of the left. They say they're for tolerance, they say they respect diversity. The reality is this: They respect everybody unless you happen to disagree with them," he said. "The left is trying to silence us and I'm tired of it, I won't take it anymore."

Earlier this week, Jindal signed an executive order to block the use of tests tied to Common Core education standards in his state, a position favored by tea party supporters and conservatives. He said he would continue to fight against the administration's attempts to implement Common Core.

"The federal government has no role, no right and no place dictating standards in our local schools across these 50 states of the United States of America," Jindal said.

Jindal used humor in criticizing the Obama administration on several fronts, referencing the Bergdahl prisoner exchange and the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

"Are we witnessing right now the most radically, extremely liberal, ideological president of our entire lifetime right here in the United States of America, or are we witnessing the most incompetent president of the United States of America in the history of our lifetimes? You know, it is a difficult question," he said. "I've thought long and hard about it. Here's the only answer I've come up with, and I'm going to quote Secretary Clinton: 'What difference does it make?'"

The conference featured most of the well-known Republicans considering a 2016 presidential run, including Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Jindal is expected to announce after the November midterm elections whether or not he will launch a presidential bid.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense lawyers for the ex-Blackwater security guards accused of killing 14 Iraqis in Baghdad nearly seven years ago are raising the possibility that prosecution witnesses, with direction from Iraqi law enforcement investigators, have orchestrated their stories.

The defense has been bedeviled by the fact that no one has come forward to support its self-defense theory — that the guards acted because they were under attack.

The most prevalent explanation since the shootings on Sept. 16, 2007, is that there were no incoming shots.

The carnage at Nisoor Square turned out to be the darkest episode of contractor violence during the war and inflamed anti-American feelings around the world. The trial, which began June 11 and is expected to last months, could feature the largest group of foreign witnesses ever to travel to the U.S. to participate in a criminal trial, according to the Justice Department.

The first witness to testify, a man whose 9-year-old son was killed at the square, told an intriguing tale this past week about money and contacts between the victims' families and a top Iraqi investigator who looked into the shootings.

Mohammad Kinani Al-Razzaq broke down and sobbed uncontrollably about the loss of his son, leaving the jury with an indelible picture of grief.

Under cross-examination the following day, Kinani recounted how Iraqi law enforcement officials ran a TV ad for anyone with information about the shootings to get in touch. Kinani said he did so, meeting with Col. Faris Karim of Iraq's national police.

When the two met shortly after the shootings, there were other people there who said they also had been at Nisoor Square. An American Army officer instructed those gathered not to share information about what they had seen, Kinani testified.

"We did tell each other, for example, I would say, 'My son got killed.' The other one says, 'My brother got injured,' or so on," Kinani said.

"And everyone agreed that this convoy" of four armored Blackwater vehicles "did not take any incoming fire, correct?" Kinani was asked.

"Yes, of course," he answered.

So "the lead police officer investigating this case ... tells you and others, none of my men shot out there, correct?" Kinani was asked.

"Yes," Kinani said.

"Col. Faris told you and other witnesses at Nisoor Square that the police officers that were on the scene did not shoot at the convoy, correct?" Kinani was asked.

"He said the Iraqi police did not shoot," Kinani replied.

In a number of conversations between Kinani and the colonel, Faris told Kinani that Blackwater Worldwide was telling people lies. According to Kinani, the lies included a car bomb going off, precipitating the shootings, and that Iraqi police had been shooting at the Blackwater vehicles at Nisoor Square.

"One of the things that he told you was a lie was the claim that the Iraqi police were shooting at Blackwater, correct?" Kinani was asked.

"Yes," Kinani said.

Years later, the colonel made a phone call to Kinani's home in Michigan in December 2012. Faris said he thought Blackwater would offer Kinani money not to testify.

"Col. Faris asked you to tell him how much money it would take you — how much money you would want from Blackwater not to testify in this case, didn't he?" Kinani was asked.

"Yes, yes. As I said previously, he did not come with an offer and he wasn't talking seriously," Kinani replied. "He was just throwing questions at me and wanted to see what would my reaction be."

Kinani reported the conversation to the FBI.

"I was worried that Blackwater had tricks up its sleeves," said Kinani. "And that's why I alerted the FBI so they would be on notice and they'd be careful."

"Col. Faris also told you that he had spoken to other witnesses to these events about taking money from Blackwater, didn't he?" one of the defense lawyers asked Kinani.

"Yes," he answered.

Kinani said no one from Blackwater ever contacted him to offer him money.

The defense lawyers who questioned Kinani were Brian Heberlig, representing Paul Slough, and Thomas Connolly, representing Nicholas Slatten. The other defendants are former Blackwater security guards Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard.

All four defendants, members of a Blackwater team called Raven 23, have pleaded not guilty in the killings and the wounding of 18 others.

In opening statements Wednesday, Heberlig said there was ample evidence of incoming gunfire at Nisoor Square. Shell casings from AK-47s were found in three locations near the traffic circle and there were multiple bullet strikes on one of the convoy vehicles, the defense argued.

Other members of the Blackwater convoy reported, and radio logs reflected, that various members of the Raven 23 team said it appeared there was incoming gunfire.

In addition, bullets blew out part of the radiator on one of the Blackwater team's armored vehicles, defense lawyers said.

As armed gunmen started shooting from several locations, some of the Blackwater security guards returned fire to defend themselves and "that is not a crime," Heberlig told the jury.