Murray rises to occasion on big stage

Simon Cambers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - British sixth seed Andy Murray rose to the occasion on Monday night when he blitzed Swiss 10th seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open for the first time, describing his victory as his best grand slam performance.

The Scot, who reached his maiden grand slam quarter-final at Wimbledon this summer, revelled under the lights as he outplayed Wawrinka, one of his best friends on the circuit, to set up a clash with Argentine 17th seed Juan Martin Del Potro.

In his first taste of the unique atmosphere of a night match at Flushing Meadows, Murray was in his element, cracking winners and even relaxing during the changeovers, watching replays of some his best shots.

"It was great," Murray told reporters.

"It was the first match I've played on that court. I've been looking forward to it for a long, long time. To play like that made it pretty special."

Both Murray and Wawrinka had come from two sets down to win their previous matches in five sets, but Murray was the fresher, trampling all over Wawrinka right from the start.

The Swiss, who won the gold medal with Roger Federer in the doubles at the Olympics earlier this month, had no answer to the power and precision of Murray's groundstrokes, while his deft touch often left him floundering.

"I didn't lose my concentration at all, which is tough in five-set matches," Murray said.

"Obviously I've beaten better players than Stan, but that level of performance throughout the whole match was probably my best one of all the slams I played."

The sometimes raucous atmosphere inside New York's Arthur Ashe Stadium is not to everyone's liking, but Murray took to it like he was born to the big stage.

"I've watched so many matches on the TV that I kind of knew what to expect," the Scot said. "I watched a few matches from the stands. It's such a huge stadium that there's always a buzz during the points, and it's a little bit different to anywhere I've played before.

"I loved every minute of it."

In a courtside interview right after the match, he said the U.S. Open was his favourite tournament.

"Tonight we had the guys from 'Entourage' watch and that's my favourite show," he said, referring to the hit U.S. television series about the entertainment business. "I love that show and you don't get that back home."

Murray said he looked forward to playing on the centre court again in the quarter-finals set for Wednesday, when he faces Del Potro, a 19-year-old on a winning streak of 23 matches, including four tournament wins.

"To play like that was obviously great, it gives me a bit of extra confidence," Murray said.

"The last slam quarter I played, I got killed and (Rafael) Nadal played way too good for me, but I feel like I'm playing better now. I'm definitely going to be more rested this time round and hopefully play a better match.

"I think I'm playing well enough to win."

(Writing by Simon Cambers, editing by Claudia Parsons)