Wimbledon 2015: Andy Murray masters time-out tactics to beat Andreas Seppi

Andy Murray prevailed in a battle of psychological warfare to defeat Andreas Seppi in four sets and reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Murray won 6-2 6-2 1-6 6-1 over the Italian but not before surviving a comeback from Seppi after a questionably timed medical time-out in the third set.

It took an injury time-out of his own for Murray to turn his fortunes around having fallen a break behind in the fourth set, as he claimed the final six games in a row to set up a last 16 meeting with the big serving Ivo Karlovic.

"I thought I played very well," said Murray. "There was that part of the third set where I struggle a little bit but how I finished the match is how I can hopefully play the rest of the way. I want to use that positive energy on the court."

With Heather Watson and James Ward having crashed out, Murray was now the only remaining British player in either singles competition and he began against the Italian number one Seppi like once again the weight of the nation's expectation was on his shoulders.

A pair of forehand errors in the opening game gave Murray an early break and as Seppi attempted to slug it out with the two-time finalist the mistakes continued as the early exchanges went with the form-book.

Murray had won all six of the pair's previous encounters and he looked set to take a giant stride to enhancing that 100% record when he clinched a double break with a fine cross-court forehand.

After serving out for a one set lead Murray took a grip of the second set with another break in the opening game as Seppi miss-hit an overhead and was punished by the 2013 champion.

As Seppi's forehand unravelled at an unrelenting pace, Murray was taking full advantage and he claimed a double-break as the world number 27 served a double-fault to hand a two-set lead to his elusive opponent.

Though Seppi took a rare lead at the start of the third set with a hold to love, the Italian's problems quickly resumed as he called the trainer to treat a shin injury.

The break in play appeared to stifle Murray and reinvigorate Seppi, who created three point chances and subsequently took a 3-1 lead via a double-fault from the racket of the British number one.

As questions over the motive of the injury time-out rumbled on, Seppi continued to hold the upper-hand and clinch a double-break and after seeing off a break-back point from Murray, he served out the third set to give himself a lifeline in the match.

And that glimmer of hope became a genuine foothold when Seppi claimed another break in the opening game of the fourth set as Murray produced a string of errors as his assault on the second week looked set to fade.

Murray called for the trainer himself to treat a shoulder problem in an attempt to revive his hopes and it paid immediate dividends as he broke Seppi to break a run of six games in a row and 45 minutes from the Bozen-born player.

Having broken that run the London 2012 Olympic singles gold medallist went on a decisive and match-winning run of his own winning six games on the bounce himself to cruise into the last 16 and leave Seppi beaten at his own game.