Wimbledon 2017: Johanna Konta through, Heather Watson & Aljaz Bedene beaten

Britain's Johanna Konta powered into the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time with a convincing win over Maria Sakkari of Greece.

Konta, seeded sixth, won 6-4 6-1 on Court One, after earlier defeats for compatriots Heather Watson and Aljaz Bedene.

The 26-year-old is the first British woman since Laura Robson four years ago to make the last 16 at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray won a thrilling contest against Italy's Fabio Fognini.

The defending champion, 30, won 6-2 4-6 6-1 7-5 after two hours and 39 minutes, with match point clinched at 20:57 BST.

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Watson, 25, went down 3-6 6-1 6-4 on Centre Court to Victoria Azarenka, the Belarusian making her Grand Slam return after giving birth to son Leo.

Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, the 16th seed, beat Bedene 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-4 on court two to reach the fourth round.

Four British players had reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time since 1997.

Jamie Murray was knocked out of the men's doubles when the Scot and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, the third seeds, lost in five sets to Australia's Sam Groth and Sweden's Robert Lindstedt.

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Confidence flowing for Konta

Konta showed no sign of extra nerves or pressure despite having been installed as favourite by some, despite making her debut in the third round.

After coming through a three-hour contest against Donna Vekic on Wednesday, Konta made quicker work of seeing off Sakkari with a clinical performance.

Sakkari, 21, played well above her ranking of 101 as she kept pace with Konta after dropping serve early on.

Konta did not lose a point on serve until the sixth game but came under real pressure at 4-3, fending off two break points on her way to taking the set.

Another break of serve after a lengthy game at the start of the second put Konta in complete control, and the confidence was flowing when she hammered a forehand down the line on her way to 3-0 and a double break.

Sakkari missed a chance to get one of them back with a poor forehand and Konta powered on to match point, screaming in delight as the ball flew long.

She goes onto face French 21st seed Caroline Garcia, with second seed Simona Halep or Victoria Azarenka waiting beyond that in a tough section of the draw.

Konta said: "Everyone's a potential winner here. I am here to be involved until the very end and I am happy to still be here.

"The support is amazing. It's truly humbling and it's what we all dream of, to play on the biggest stage."

Watson suffers again on Centre Court

The opening match on Centre Court pitted world number 683 Azarenka against number 102 Watson - albeit a two-time Grand Slam champion against a former British number one.

Two years on from her epic defeat by Serena Williams on the same stage, Watson again went down in three dramatic sets to one of the top players.

Azarenka, 27, is a former number one but was playing just her fifth match since returning to tennis following the birth of her son Leo.

Watson looked like the player with more matches under her belt in the early stages, breaking serve straight away and moving into a 4-1 lead before clinching the opening set after 34 minutes.

Hopes of a swift win quickly disappeared as the Belarusian began to find her range and Watson's forehand faltered, Azarenka racing through six of seven games to level.

In a tense final set, Azarenka got the first break in a 10-minute game at 3-3 only for Watson to hit straight back for 4-4.

Nerves were apparent when both players let floating balls drop inside the baseline behind them, but Azarenka's quality came through when it mattered and she broke serve again with a forehand winner for 5-4.

Watson was angered when the umpire missed her request to challenge a line call but it made no difference as Azarenka served out the victory, and kept her Grand Slam comeback going.

Watson said: "I was very upset after that match, to lose that one. I've been feeling so great about my game, within myself. I just felt like I'd fallen at the same hurdle again. It hurt a lot today."

There was some measure of revenge for Watson a few hours later when she and Finland's Henri Kontinen opened the defence of their mixed doubles title with a 6-3 6-4 win over Azarenka and Nenad Zimonjic.

In-form Muller too strong for Bedene

Bedene, 27, had high hopes of reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, but Muller's grass-court pedigree proved too much for the British number four.

Muller is enjoying the best season of his career at 34 years old and went into the match with a 10-1 record on grass, including a win over Bedene last month.

The pair shared breaks of serve before Muller edged the tie-break, and he recovered from 2-0 down to take the second after breaking with a forehand winner.

Muller grabbed the decisive break at 3-2 in the third and ended the match with 19 aces and 21 winners at the net.

He will face two-time champion Rafael Nadal or Karen Khachanov in the last 16 on Monday.

Bedene said: "Every time I give my best until the end. Unfortunately it didn't work out today. I wasn't playing my best tennis.

"But he's playing a little bit different, unique style, lefty, good serve, great slice. I just didn't find my rhythm today. It wasn't easy."

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