Seventh seed Alexander Zverev of Germany strolled past Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Monday to end the Russian’s 15-match winning streak and book his maiden quarter-final spot in the Australian Open.
Rublev arrived in Melbourne having won titles in Doha and Adelaide at the start of the season while he also won all four singles matches he contested at the season-ending Davis Cup Finals in November.
But the German put in a clinical performance, breaking his opponent’s serve once in each set while not facing a single breakpoint of his own, to complete the win in straight sets.
Zverev served 11 aces and hit his 34th winner to complete the win and set up a quarter-final clash against former champion Stan Wawrinka, who earlier battled past Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-2 2-6 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2.