No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev took another step in his quest to ‍win his first Grand Slam event, defeating Great Britain's Cameron Norrie 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open on Friday.

Zverev was the runner-up in Melbourne last year, losing to Jannik Sinner, and is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals.

This year, the German has dropped a set in each of his three matches but rebounded and will play in the fourth round for the seventh time. He hit 52 winners compared to 29 unforced errors and won points on 72 percent of his first serves in the two-hour, 46-minute match.

"I thought I was hitting my forehand quite big and well," said Zverev, who moved to 7-0 against the 26th-seeded Norrie.

"Moving forward that is the shot that will make me win or make me lose. If I am hitting it that way and I feel confident in that shot, it is very important."

Awaiting Zverev in the next round ‍is No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who eliminated No. 13 Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Home favorite Alex de Minaur, the No. 6 ‍seed, advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win against No. 29 Frances Tiafoe. The Australian converted 5 of 12 break chances and next will face No. 10 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.

Bublik won in straight sets against Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

In earlier action Friday, No. 19 Tommy Paul and No. 25 Learner Tien of the U.S. advanced to the round of 16.

Paul needed only two sets, as 14th-seeded Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina retired with a leg injury after dropping the first two sets 6-1, 6-1. Tien knocked off Portugal's Nuno Borges 7-6 (9), 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round in back-to-back years.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz continued his stress-free start to the Grand Slam season with ‍a 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 32 Corentin Moutet of France.

The Spaniard had 30 winners to 20 unforced errors, converting 8 of 13 break- point opportunities.

With the victory, Alcaraz tied Bjorn Borg of Sweden for the best record through his first 100 matches at majors (87-13) in the Open era. Countryman Rafael Nadal and John McEnroe were both 86-14.

The No. 1-ranked player will face Paul in the next round. Paul is 18-6 in Melbourne and reached his only Grand Slam semifinal there in 2023. (Reuters)