Murray enjoying centre stage

7:43pm Friday 5th September 2008

Andy Murray is relishing his return to Arthur Ashe Stadium for Saturday's US Open semi-final showdown with world number one Rafael Nadal.

British number one and sixth seed Murray will be making his third straight appearance on the main show court at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, which with a 23,000 capacity is the largest purpose-built tennis arena in the world.

Murray said: "I love playing on that court. For me, the atmosphere there is awesome. I've had great support, and I played two really good matches. I look forward to playing hopefully more matches on there in the future."

Murray made his Ashe Stadium debut on Monday night with a straight-sets demolition of Stanislas Wawrinka and followed up on Wednesday with a four-set thriller against Juan Martin Del Potro to reach the first grand slam semi-final of his career.

He now faces top seed Nadal, who knocked out American Mardy Fish in the early hours of on Thursday morning, confident he can have a large section of the crowd in his corner.

"I think they enjoy my game style," Murray said of the US Open fans. "You know, I think it's a bit different to how a lot of the guys play nowadays, and I think they just enjoy the way I play, and show emotion on the court, and that's what Americans like to see."

Murray claimed the atmosphere was as enjoyable as playing in his home grand slam at Wimbledon.

"It's just very different," he said. "For me the biggest difference is in the middle of the points. At Wimbledon it's so quiet, and then at the end of the points it kind of erupts.

"Here there's a lot of noise going on in the middle of points, and a lot of shouting out during points.

"Just a little bit more laid back, the atmosphere here. But both are great."

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