Andy Murray overcame a shoulder injury to reach the last 16 of Wimbledon by beating Andreas Seppi with a four-set win on Centre Court tonight.
The third seed cruised to a two-set advantage before being pegged back after needing treatment on his shoulder, but the Scot saw out the fourth to clinch a 6-2 6-2 1-6 6-1 win in two hours and 10 minutes.
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Seppi had stoked the fires ahead of play by suggesting that beating Murray would be nowhere near as impressive as his Australian Open win over Roger Federer in January.
Nevertheless, it seemed unlikely that Seppi would earn the chance to measure both scalps after Murray dominated the first set with a fast and furious start.
The Scot broke his serve straight away en route to a 3-1 lead, before repeating the feat in the seventh game to win the opener in just over half-an-hour.
The second followed an identical pattern as its predecessor, as the world number three broke his Italian counterpart in the first and seventh game again to reel off yet another comfortable set.
With a straight-sets defeat firmly on the cards, the world number 27 responded with aplomb, inflicting two breaks of serve to lead 5-1, before reducing the deficit in a set that saw Murray seemingly struggle with a shoulder problem.
He called for his trainer and received treatment after losing the opening game of the fourth set, but the 2013 champion quelled fears of retiring by playing on and swiftly moved into a 4-1 lead.
From there, there was no catching Murray, who won the next two games with relative ease to set up a last-16 contest with Ivo Karlovic, who served 41 aces in his third-round win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Shane Callaghan
