Faultless Alexander Zverev strolls into Australian Open third round

Alexander Zverev put his serving woes behind him as he cruised into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday with a dominant 7-6(5) 6-4 7-5 win over Belarusian battler Egor Gerasimov.

Seventh seed Zverev racked up an astonishing 31 double-faults in three defeats at the season-opening ATP Cup but committed none against Gerasimov while bashing nine aces and landing an encouraging 78% of his first serves at Rod Laver Arena.

Zverev wavered when serving for the match at 5-3, allowing world number 98 Gerasimov to break back and level to 5-5, but the combustible German talent wrapped up the contest soon after with a barrage of stunning forehand winners.

Zverev will play the winner of Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili and Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco for a place in the fourth round.