Tennis-Zverev reaches last eight with easy win over Lajovic

[1/4] Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 14, 2021 Germany’s Alexander Zverev in action during his fourth round match against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

MELBOURNE, Feb 14 (Reuters) – German sixth seed Alexander Zverev used his powerful serve to good effect to overcome 23rd seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-4 7-6(5) 6-3 on Sunday and reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Zverev needed five sets to beat Lajovic in each of their two previous meetings at the French Open, but the 23-year-old was in a more ruthless mood on Margaret Court Arena and sealed victory with his 15th ace.

The German got 72% of his first serves in and racked up 44 winners to dominate the 30-year-old Lajovic throughout the match.

Zverev will meet either world number one Novak Djokovic or Canadian 14th seed Milos Raonic for a place in the semi-finals.

Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Ed Osmond

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