Defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray beat Fabio Fognini 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 to reach the fourth round.

Murray won five consecutive games in the fourth set and saved five set points. He will now face France’s Benoit Paire on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.

‘I served it out really well to finish,’ said Murray. ‘But it was a very up and down match. I didn’t feel like it was the best tennis at times. It was a little bit tense but I managed to get through.

‘It’s obviously difficult when you’re playing a guy who has all of the shots like him. He generates power with very short swings. It’s difficult to see when he’s going to hit the ball big. He was taking me out of my rhythm.

‘It was also getting dark towards the end. We would probably had to have come off and closed the roof had I lost that fourth set so you’re thinking a little bit about that as well, a change of conditions and a 20-minute break to think about things before playing a fifth set. So obviously pleased to get off in four.’

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal progressed to the last 16 with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) win against Russian 30th seed Karen Khachanov.

The Spaniard has now equalled his personal record of 28 successive sets won at Grand Slams, dating back to this year’s Australian Open final.

‘I played fantastic for a set and a half but it got tougher after that. He started to hit stronger so I was happy to get through in three sets,’ Nadal said.

Johanna Konta, the bookmakers’ new favourite to win the Wimbledon women’s title, cruised into the fourth round on Friday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Maria Sakkari.

‘Everyone’s a potential winner here. I’m here to hopefully be involved until the very end, but one match at a time,’ she said. ‘I think it was quite tricky conditions out there today.

‘It was a bit more gusty than maybe it appeared and it wasn’t easy for both of us. I’m very happy to have tried to take care of the simple things, compete hard and make sure I left no stone unturned.’

Photo: Wimbledon