Wimbledon 2017: Andy Murray backs Johanna Konta as four Brits take to the court on day five

Konta is now the bookies' favourite to win her first Grand Slam after some high-profile exits

Taking more than three hours to beat an opponent ranked outside the world’s top 50 might not sound particularly promising, but Andy Murray believes that Johanna Konta’s second-round victory here on Wednesday could be the making of his female counterpart as British No 1.

Murray was waiting to follow Konta on court as he watched the world No 7 beat Donna Vekic 10-8 in the final set. “I think that will be a big match for her,” Murray said. “Sometimes when you get through matches like that at a Slam it can give you a big boost.

“She’s probably not played loads on Centre Court, so to get through a match like that on there, if she wants to do well, she’s going to have to play a lot more out there, so it will be really good for her.”

By this stage of a Grand Slam tournament Murray is usually preparing to occupy his customary position as the last Briton left standing in singles, but for once he has company.

Konta, Aljaz Bedene and Heather Watson will be joining him in the third round on Friday, giving the home country its best representation in the last 32 at Wimbledon for 20 years. The last time Britain had four or more singles players still going strong at this stage was in 1997, when Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Mark Petchey, Andrew Richardson and Karen Cross all made it to the third round.

Petchey, ironically enough, will be among those trying to spoil the home crowd’s big day in his role as the coach of Konta’s opponent, Maria Sakkari, a 21-year-old Greek ranked No 101 in the world.

Murray will be taking on Fabio Fognini, a flamboyant Italian, Bedene faces Gilles Muller, a big-serving left-hander, while Watson meets Victoria Azarenka, a former world No 1 who has just returned to competition seven months after the birth of her first child.

No British man has gone further than Murray in a Grand Slam tournament in which the Scot has competed since he was knocked out in the first round of the French Open in 2006, when Henman went one round further.

Indeed, in the 41 Grand Slam tournaments Murray has played since then, the only occasion when a fellow Briton of either sex has gone further than him was at this year’s Australian Open, where the Scot lost in the fourth round and Konta reached the quarter-finals.

Konta, who is now the bookmakers’ favourite for the title following the defeats of Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova, has never gone this far at Wimbledon before and Murray was impressed with the way she handled the occasion against Vekic.

Murray and Konta could do the men's and women's double (Getty)

“She stayed very calm in what was a match she was very close to losing,” Murray said. “At the end of the match you could see the emotion that came out, so that was obviously in there. She was feeling the nerves and the stress and the pressure. But she stayed pretty calm in those moments and did well.”

Konta said she was happy to be playing a part in raising the profile of tennis in Britain. “I think what Andy has done for our sport and the awareness he has brought over the years, throughout the season, is only a positive and I’m just hoping I can add a little to that,” she said.

The world No 7 said she felt “very fortunate” to be part of the excitement that Wimbledon generates in the country. “I’m just really doing my best to be a part of it for the whole fortnight,” she said.

Asked if she had noticed more people recognising her away from the court during Wimbledon, Konta said: “I think there’s definitely more awareness of us in this fortnight, but I do try to not go out too much. However I guess like with any tournament the time I have to really do stuff is quite limited anyway, so I am enjoying just staying at home, chilling out and making muffins.”

Petchey spends most of his time in the TV commentary box these days and is working with a professional player for the first time since his time with Murray at the start of the Scot’s career. He was asked to help Sakkari after she parted company with her coach following the French Open.

“She’s an incredibly hard worker,” Petchey said. “Since we've been working she has won three matches from match point down, so that tells you a bit about her competitive fire. She finds a way to play big in the big moments.”

Konta's route to the final has opened up (Getty)

Asked about the current success of British players, Petchey said he thought there was every chance that it would continue. “It’s potentially available to us for the next while with Heather, Jo, Aljaz coming back to form and Kyle playing great,” Petchey said. “I think Kyle is going to be top 15 within the next 18 months and Andy we hope will stay around for three or four years. So I can’t see why it shouldn’t be something we become more familiar with.”

While Murray himself welcomed the success of his compatriots, he said it did not make any difference to his own Wimbledon campaign.

“It's a good thing when there are more Brits around,” he said. “That's a really positive thing. But it doesn’t change how I go into the matches. I’m used to having played deep into the second weeks at Slams and there not being any Brits there. Whether I’ll feel differently the middle of the second week and there are a few Brits left, and it’s maybe a little bit calmer - that's possible. I've never been in that position before.”

Fognini has beaten Murray twice on his favoured surface of clay. Although playing on grass tilts the match in Murray’s favour, the world No 1 said Fognini was “always dangerous”. He added: “He's a shot maker. He’s very solid off his forehand and backhand side, but he can also hit winners from both sides.”

Murray’s prospects of enjoying a lengthy run did not look good when he was struggling with a hip injury last week, but he loves the challenge of defying low expectations and overcoming adversity.

“Throughout the course of a year you need to have the motivation yourself to want to be the best or to want to win tournaments, and want to train hard, all of those things,” Murray said. “But there are different stages in the year where someone says that you can’t do something or people think that you’re struggling or you might be coming towards the end [of your career].

“Just because I said one thing about potentially not competing at the top of the game for so much longer, I’ve been asked whether I’m thinking about retiring, or how many more years I’m going to play, or am I starting to slip a little bit.

“So those things at different stages, they can help. Like before the French Open, when I’m in a ‘terrible’ place in terms of my game and I’m not playing well, having that little bit of extra motivation can help.”

Bedene meanwhile faces a tough task against Muller, who at the age of 34 is at his career highest place in the world rankings (No 26). However, Bedene can take encouragement from the fact that he beat another big server, Ivo Karlovic, in the opening round, while Muller needed five sets to dispose of Lukas Rosol in the second.

“Muller's obviously really good on the grass,” Murray said. “The start of the match will be big for Aljaz. I think Gilles is a good front-runner, the way he serves and stuff. Once he gets ahead he's not an easy guy to break. But if Aljaz can start well, he serves very well himself. It should be good. I think there will be a lot of tight sets.”