Mischa Zverev
Mischa Zverev celebrates after knocking world number one Andy Murray out of the 2017 Australian Open in the fourth round Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Defending women's champion Angelique Kerber also falls to Coco Vandeweghe on eventful day seven.
  • Roger Federer outlasts Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka beats Andreas Seppi.
  • Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also seal quarter-final spots.

World number one Sir Andy Murray was dumped out of the 2017 Australian Open by world number 50 Mischa Zverev in the fourth round. The Russia-born German won 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in three hours and 33 minutes.

The five-time beaten finalist was favourite to lift his first title at Melbourne Park following Novak Djokovic's exit from the tournament in the second round, but the Scot was thoroughly outplayed by Zverev during the entire match. Murray's serve was broken eight times by the German en route to a famous win.

Zverev refused to let Murray settle down during the match and constantly put pressure on his serve. The world number 50 changed his strategy a number of times and matched the Scot shot-for-shot from the base line and troubled him more when he switched to serve and volley – he approached the net 118 times winning 65 points.

The men's top ranked player was the first to break serve in game four of the opening set, but was unable to consolidate as he was broken immediately. Murray again broke Zverev in the eighth game, but the German responded with a break of his own in the next game. The latter went one better when he broke the Scot for a third time in game 11 to take the first set 7-5.

The second set again saw five breaks of serve in total, but it was Murray who broke Zverev on three occasions in games two, six and 12 to take it 7-5. That was the last time the world number one got the better of Zverev's serve during the match.

The German's only other meeting with Murray came during a straight set loss at the BMW Open in 2015, but this time around he was determined to cause an upset. He played some sublime tennis in the third set to break the Scot on two occasions in game five and seven to wrap up the set 6-2 in forty minutes.

Andy Murray
Andy Murray's quest for a first Australian Open title continues after he was dumped out by Mischa Zverev in the fourth round Getty

The fourth set started in disastrous fashion for Murray as he was broken in the very first game. He was unable to recover from the early blow and despite trying to mount a fightback he surrendered the final set and the match 6-4.

The win marks a remarkable turnaround for Zverev, who was ranked 1067 in the ATP rankings in March 2015. He is likely to move up the ladder after recording his best ever result in a Grand Slam tournament. Murray, a five-time beaten finalist, will be aware that he lost his best chance of winning the Australian Open.

A rejuvenated Roger Federer now lies in wait for Zverev after the 17-time Grand Slam winner outlasted Kei Nishikori in five sets. Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka won three tiebreaks to edge past Andreas Seppi and is now scheduled to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who proved too powerful for British number three Dan Evans.

In another massive upset on day seven, women's top seed and defending champion Angelique Kerber fell in straight sets to Coco Vandeweghe. The American world number 35 will now face Garbine Muguruza after the 2016 French Open winner defeated Sorana Cirstea. Venus Williams meets Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next after eliminating Mona Barthel. The Russian right-hander booked her place in the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.