Video: Andy Murray feeling better after dismissing Benoit Paire at Wimbledon

The world No 1 has home company in the quarter-finals for the first time after he defeated Benoit Paire 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 6-4 and Konta beat Caroline Garcia.

Not for 44 years have a British man and woman made the singles quarter-finals in the same year, and hopes are high that this may not be the end of the story for either player.

Murray will be a heavy favourite against American Sam Querrey while Konta takes on second seed Simona Halep.

“I think it’s great,” said Murray. “It’s not just about this tournament, but over the last 18 months, two years, Jo has done great.

“It’s important to have various different role models in the sport, players competing for the biggest events.

“I do think it makes a difference to the interest in the sport, because a lot of people who follow tennis in this country won’t enjoy watching me play. It’s true.

“So it’s great if you have someone like Jo or Kyle (Edmund), or whoever it is. People like different game styles, different personalities.

“It’s great that she’s doing well. Hopefully she keeps going the next few days.”

Murray continued his journey through the Wimbledon draw with an ultimately comfortable win against Paire.

Following on from Alexander Bublik, Dustin Brown and Fabio Fognini, Paire is another of the tour’s more quirky characters, and it was no surprise that Murray looked short of rhythm.

He was twice a break down in the opening set, but, after saving two set points, Paire played a dreadful tie-break.

Murray saved four break points at 5-4 before serving out the second set and then secured the crucial break in the ninth game of the third.

Paire hit 50 winners compared to just 25 for Murray and entertained the crowd with several attempts at diving shots, but ultimately was far too erratic.

Murray became just the third player in the Open era after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer to reach 10 consecutive quarter-finals at a single grand slam.

The world No 1 felt he took a step up from his performance against Fognini and shrugged off more questions about his troublesome hip.

“Like I said at the beginning of the tournament, I’ll be able to get through seven matches if that’s what I have to do,” he said.

“Obviously I want to try to get to the final. I’ve done a good job so far here. (Yesterday) was by far the best I hit the ball, the cleanest I hit the ball. I was happy about that.

“The last couple of days, practice has been really good. I didn’t feel great during my last match. I didn’t feel like I played so well, not loads of rhythm in the first two matches.

“I definitely felt better (against Paire). That’s positive moving into the last few days of the tournament.”

Paire tested out Murray’s movement by deploying a lot of drop shots at the start, but did not find it wanting.

“I think he has no problem,” said the world No 46. “Look at him. During the point, you didn’t see any problem.

“Between the points, we can do what we want, but during the point he can run like a rabbit. For him, is every time like this. So it’s never easy to know if he’s injured.

“I played him last year in Monte Carlo, and it was the same guy against me (yesterday). Mostly I think he can win Wimbledon. He has not a lot of confidence, for sure, but he can.”

The performance was particularly gratifying for Murray because it was watched from the Royal Box by boxers David Haye and Carl Froch among other sporting stars.

The Scot said: “I’ve met them quite a few times, been to some of their fights. I stay in touch with them a bit during the year.

“It’s nice when people from other sports come to enjoy your one. (Sheffield’s) Matt Fitzpatrick, a golfer, I met him a couple of times as well. He was there watching, which was nice.

“It’s cool to get to chat to them about their sports. There’s sometimes a crossover between the different sports. I like that.

“It’s one of the nice things about what we do, is getting to chat to people that we watch on the TV about what they do.”

For Paire, the main positive, as well as a first fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon, was finishing the tournament free of fines.

The Frenchman is known for his propensity to smash rackets, and said: “Normally when I see my prize money, it’s a little bit less than I saw on the paper. Now I’m really happy. I can have a drink.”

Rafael Nadal crashed out of Wimbledon after a dramatic, marathon five-set defeat to Gilles Muller.

The Spaniard, a two-time winner at SW19, had hauled himself back from two sets down against the 16th seed from Luxembourg to take their last-16 encounter to a decider, but Muller triumphed 15-13 in an epic fifth set.