MELBOURNE (AFP) - World No. 3 Alexander Zverev powered his way into the last 16 of the Australian Open with a superb serving display against Moldova's Radu Albot on Friday (Jan 21).
The powerful German Tokyo Olympic gold medallist thundered down 16 aces and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points to put away the 124th-ranked Albot 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour 57 minutes in hot conditions on John Cain Arena.
Zverev will next take on Canada's 14th seed Denis Shapovalov.
Zverev has been impressive in his three wins so far at the Open as he shapes up for a possible quarter-final with 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
"I think Radu is in great form, he's played five matches so far, so he is obviously playing well, feeling the ball well," said Zverev, who is into the second week at Melbourne Park for the fourth year in a row.
"I am happy to be through in three sets.
"I had my struggles on the court today, I didn't feel perfect, but who is perfect? At the end of the day, I won and I'm happy about that."
Zverev broke Albot's serve three times and saved five break points on his own service, with his clean hitting netting him 44 winners against 30 unforced errors.
