Wednesday 3 September 2014 08:02, UK
Andy Murray believes his grand slam final victories over Novak Djokovic will help him heading into Wednesday's quarter-final showdown at the US Open.
Djokovic has won 12 of the 20 encounters between the two rivals however Murray beat the Serb to win the US Open crown in 2012 before repeating the feat at Wimbledon the following year.
"They obviously will help," said Murray, who has beaten Robin Haase, Matthias Bachinger, Andrey Kuznetsov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga so far at Flushing Meadows this year.
"I wouldn't say in terms of getting confidence, it's just having that experience of playing those matches.
"They were both very long, tough matches, as well. So I know that I can last those matches against him. But anything can happen in a couple of days. I'll just do everything properly and hope on Wednesday I play a good match."
Djokovic has impressed so and is yet to drop a set on his march to the last eight, with wins over Diego Schwartzman, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Sam Querrey and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
However the Wimbledon champion knows he faces his toughest test against Murray.
"We all know his quality," said Djokovic.
"He knows how to play on centre court at the US Open where he has played some great tennis and we've had some great matches. It's a very tough draw. I'm going to have to be playing my highest level in order to advance.
"I think he performs his best in the grand slams. He's been on and off this year but I think in the big matches, as the tournament progresses, he's still fit. He still plays very high-quality tennis. That's what I expect him to do."
Wednesday’s other quarter-final sees third seed Stan Wawrinka take on Kei Nishikori.
Australian Open champion Wawrinka has won the two previous meetings against Nishikori, however the No 10 seed from Japan produced a minor upset in the fourth round by ousting Milos Raonic in five sets.
Wawrinka has been forced to dig deep to reach the quarter-final, with Jiri Vesely, Thomaz Bellucci and Tommy Robredo all pushing the Swiss hard.
Victoria Azarenka, Ekaterina Makarova, Flavia Pennetta and Serena Williams will look to join Caroline Wozniacki and Peng Shuai in the semi-final.
Williams, playing in her 38th Grand Slam, is a big favourite to advance having never lost to her opponent, 11th seed Flavia Pennetta.
The American has put her 2014 struggles behind her to concede just 17 games in her four matches in New York so far – while she previously beat Pennetta at the same stage of the tournament in 2009.
The other quarter-final is likely to be a closer affair, with 16th seed Victoria Azarenka just about having the edge over No 17 seed Ekaterina Makarova.
Azarenka has won three of the five previous matches, although Makarova won their last encounter in Madrid in 2013.
Away from the singles, Ross Hutchins will be looking to book his place in a grand slam final when he and mixed doubles partner Yung-Jan Chan face top seeds Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares on Louis Armstrong.
