MELBOURNE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- World No. 3 Alexander Zverev blasted past 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets to storm into the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday.

Zverev stepped up his bid for an elusive Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 romp in two hours and 12 minutes, punctuated by 35 winners.

It was a notable improvement for Zverev, last year's beaten finalist, who had been pushed to four sets in each of his opening three matches.

The German next plays American 25th seed Learner Tien, who beat former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3. ■