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 quarterfinal 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 quarterfinal clash against former champion Stan Wawrinka, who earlier battled past Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Zverev, who extended his winning streak against Rublev to 15 matches, embraced the Russian whom he had known since childhood.
"I’ve known him since we were 10 years old. I just reminded him how far we got together."
"A lot of young kids would dream about playing the fourth round of a Grand Slam against one of his closest friends. I just told him we’re going to play a lot of great matches."
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