In a battle of two wounded soldiers, Andy Murray limped his way past an alternately inspired and listless Fabio Fognini. The prize was a place in the fourth round of Wimbledon for a 10th straight year, but Fognini proved to be a more challenging obstacle than anyone had expected.

As the light died on Centre Court, Murray managed to sneak through a bizarre, yet fascinating, match by a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 margin.

This was hardly the performance that Murray and his camp would have wanted. From the back of the court, he had little to offer but line and length. And for a half-hour spell in the middle of the match, he found himself cast as the patsy in a show-stopping display from Fognini, a languid Italian who struts like a cockerel and has the hands of a magician.

Fognini’s devil-may-care streak can work both ways, as he switches from angelic tennis to utter carelessness in a manner that Nick Kyrgios might recognise. The villainous streak came out at the end of the first set, when he served three double-faults in a row. At that stage, it looked as if it might be a quick day’s work for Murray, who needed only 29 minutes to take the opener 6-2.