ANDY Murray believes he is getting back to his best - just as one of his biggest rivals for the Wimbledon title packed his bags for home and another is left facing a scheduling logjam. The Scot ran out a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 winner against Benoit Paire of France in the last 16 on Centre Court yesterday, just hours before Rafael Nadal, the world’s second best player by the rankings and a potential semi-final opponent, crashed out in a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 five-set epic to Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller on Court No 1. The match took so long that Novak Djokovic was unable to take to the court, meaning the Serb must now play back-to-back matches against Adrian Mannarino and Tomas Berdych just to reach the semi-finals. All in all, it has been quite a sporting week for the Grand Duchy.

Murray, who hit 25 winners and made just eight unforced errors against the unpredictable Paire, said he was delighted with his own progress. It is the tenth successive year he has reached the last eight here, a tally which only three men have bettered in the Open Era.

“That is the best I have hit the ball,” said Murray, who came into the tournament dogged by a hip injury. “I felt like I moved well. Maybe I could have served a little bit better, done better behind my first serve, but I was very effective on the second serve. That was good.

“Hopefully in a couple of days I’ll feel better again,” he added. “But today was much, much better in terms of how clean I was hitting it, how aggressive I was able to be on the ball. My timing was better. I felt like I hit way more winners from the back of the court. Against Fabio [Fognini], I hit three or four in four sets. It’s not easy to win matches like that. It’s really hard when you’re not hitting many winners, not getting many free points.”

Next up for Murray is big-serving Californian Sam Querrey, who toppled Djokovic here last year. “Obviously getting to the quarters again is good,” said Murray. “But Sam obviously likes the conditions here. He’s had some good wins here, some tight matches as well. He obviously has a big serve and goes for his shots. He’s a very aggressive player. He’s not an easy guy to break. I’ll need to make sure I’m serving well and, you know, not letting him dictate too much.”

With Jo Konta coming through a tense three-set match against Caroline Garcia of France by a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 scoreline, Britain has a man and woman still standing in the last eight for the first time since 1973. The odds continue to shorten on what would be a historic first title double in the Open Era.

“I think it’s great what Jo has done,” said Murray. “It’s not just about this tournament, but over the last 18 months, two years, she has done great. It’s important to have various different role models competing for the biggest events. It makes a difference to interest in the sport, because a lot of people who follow tennis in this country won’t enjoy watching me play.”