World No. 1 Murray out of Aus Open, loses to Zverev in 4th round

Germany’s Mischa Zverev hits a forehand to Britain’s Andy Murray during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. AP

MELBOURNE, Australia — Top-seeded Andy Murray is out of the Australian Open, beaten 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 by 50th-ranked Mischa Zverev.

Murray, who has lost five Australian Open finals, dropped his serve eight times in the Rod Laver Arena afternoon match that went 3 hours, 34 minutes.

Zverev, a German lefthander and the older brother of Alexander Zverev, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the third round on Saturday, advances to a quarterfinal against the winner of the later match between Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori.

It’s the first time since 2002 that neither the No. 1 nor the No. 2 seed has reached the Australian Open quarterfinals.

READ: Djokovic out in 2nd-round upset loss to Istomin in Australia

Murray joins six-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, beaten in the second round by wild-card entry Denis Istomin, on the sidelines for the second week at Melbourne Park./rga