ANDY MURRAY has revealed that he has tried to stay relaxed en route to his date with destiny in the US Open final against four-time champion Roger Federer tonight by playing scrabble.

Murray will face former world no 1 as he attempts to become the first Brit to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry in 1936.

And the Dunblane ace believes that the delights of the board game have helped him switch off from the pressures of his history making run at Flushing Meadows.

And Murray said: "I have not seen much of the press this week as I have been playing scrabble in my spare time and just tried to stay relaxed.

"It is about staying focused, I have one more match to win and that was the aim when I came into the tournament at the start of the fortnight.

"I think once you get older, you start to understand how the press works a bit better. When I first came on the scene at Wimbledon in 2005, I had done very few press conferences. I had never played in front of a lot of people before. I was used to playing in futures events and stuff.

"All of a sudden I was the centre of attention at the biggest tennis tournament in the world. It's very different to what I was used to, so it took me some time to - I'm not someone who liked sort of celebrity life. I like to just relax with my friends and family.

"I don't go out my way to do a lot of press stuff. I found it tough at the start because there was a lot of press requests and what have you. So I had a few problems early on in my career, but I think I'm dealing with it much better now."

Murray reckons that his passage to a first ever Grand Slam final has been helped by the Spartan regime of his teenage training camp in Spain.

He said: "The things that prepared me for these situations was when I went over to train in Spain when I was 15 and it was much tougher being away from my family for a long time rather than, you know, whether people expect me to win Slams or winning Wimbledon.