Andy Murray dumped out of Australian Open in fourth round by world No 50 Mischa Zverev

Down and out: Andy Murray's wait for the Australian Open title goes on
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Tom Allnutt22 January 2017

Andy Murray's hopes of a first Australian Open title blew up in smoke as the world number one tumbled out in the fourth round to an inspired Mischa Zverev.

Murray had been the outstanding favourite in Melbourne following Novak Djokovic's early exit but the Scot was woefully out of sorts on Rod Laver Arena as world number 50 Zverev sealed a shock 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4 victory.

It is only the fourth time Murray has lost to an opponent ranked outside the top 40 at a grand slam and his first since 2007.

Zverev, who was playing his first ever grand slam fourth round, will now face either Roger Federer or Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals.

Australian Open Tennis 2017 - In pictures

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The German is a throwback to the old days of serve and volley and he simply bamboozled Murray, usually so adept at the areas of pass and lob, with a brilliant display at the net.

"I was in a little coma," Zverev said on court afterwards. "I just served and volleyed my way through it.

"There were a few points where I don't know how I pulled it off but somehow I made it."

Zverev's younger brother Alexander, the much more fancied of the two siblings and sitting in his box, had stretched Rafael Nadal to five sets less than 24 hours before, but Mischa went one step further by inflicting arguably the biggest shock of Murray's career.

Even when he dumped a smash into the net late in the fourth his nerve did not waver, instead looking to his mother and coach in the box for reassurance.

"I always look at my mum because she smiles when I miss those balls, so I looked at her and it was okay," Zverev said.

On a potential quarter-final showdown with Federer, he added: "Everything is new to me, everything feels unreal.

"Maybe playing Roger would be a dream to me. He inspires me and he was my favourite player growing up."

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