MELBOURNE, Australia -- Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber had much in common heading into the first Grand Slam of the season as the No. 1 seeds.
They shared an unwanted link Sunday, though, when both were upset in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
By the end of a chaotic first week at Melbourne Park, five-time finalist Murray had extended his Australian drought following a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 50-ranked Mischa Zverev a matter of hours before defending women's champion Kerber lost 6-3, 6-2 to CoCo Vandeweghe in an upset that finished at six minutes past midnight.
Novak Djokovic, who beat Murray in finals to win four of his record six Australian titles, didn't make it past the second round. Multiple major winners Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both returning from injury layoffs, needed come-from-behind victories to advance to the second week.
Serena Williams advanced early this morning to the quarterfinals with a scrappy 7-5, 6-4 victory over Barbora Strycova.
Williams is attempting to win her Open era-record 23 Grand Slam singles title, her seventh Australian Open championship and a return to the No. 1 ranking.
She had 23 unforced errors in the first set and needed eight set points to clinch it. There were seven breaks of serve in the set, including the first four games.
On the final point of the set a backhand by Williams bounced flatly on Strycova's side of the court. The Czech player couldn't pick it up and Williams had the first set in 55 minutes.
It was tough at the top on Sunday for Murray and Kerber.
"Right now I'm obviously very down because I wanted to go further in this event," Murray said. "I've had tough losses in my career in the past. I've come back from them. This is a tough one."
Kerber said: "Of course, they are new experiences ... new challenges," Kerber said. "I can learn from all the other stuff which is new for me."
Against Vandeweghe, she said she was "trying everything, but I missed a lot and I make a lot of unforced errors -- this was not my game."
Vandeweghe had never been past the third round at the Australian Open, and lost in the first round here last year. But she pounded Kerber with a powerful forehand, clubbing 13 of her 30 winners from that side.
After match point, she shrugged her shoulders in a "so-what" motion after moving into a quarterfinal against French Open winner Garbine Muguruza.
"It's the first time I've ever beaten a world No. 1," the 35th-ranked American said. "And especially at a Grand Slam, I think it makes it that much sweeter."
Kerber saved a match point in the first round last year before winning her first major title, beating Serena Williams in the final. She replaced Williams atop the rankings after winning the U.S. Open. Now Williams can regain the top spot -- if she wins the title here.
Murray rebounded last year from his Australian and French Open finals defeats to replace Djokovic at No. 1.
He was undone by some old-school serve and volley from Zverev, who played the match of his life. Zverev will now meet 17-time major winner Federer in the quarterfinals.
He was ecstatic. "It was about staying with him. ... almost going down 6-0, I thought 'It's not going to get any worse from there,'" said Federer, on the comeback from six months on the sidelines to repair his injured left knee. "Huge win for me in my career."
Murray's exit followed the second-round departure of Djokovic, beaten in the second round by No. 117-ranked wild-card entry Denis Istomin.
It's the first time since 2002 that the top two seeds in the men's draw haven't reached the Australian Open quarterfinals, and the first time at a Grand Slam since the French Open in 2004.
In their absence, U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka is a growing contender after beating Andreas Seppi 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4). He'll play a quarterfinal against 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Dan Evans 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
In the bottom half of the draw, 14-time major winner Nadal is the only remaining contender who has won a Grand Slam title.
The top half of the women's draw is open, too. Venus Williams returned to the quarterfinals for the ninth time with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 181-ranked Mona Barthel.
The seven-time major winner next plays No. 24-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3.
Muguruza beat Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 and will next play Vandeweghe -- they're both in the quarterfinals here for the first time.
The bigger upset was produced by Zverev, the older and apparently lesser-talented brother of Alexander who had never gone past the third round of a major and was appearing at only his third Grand Slam in six years.
Zverev attacked Murray, unsettling his natural baseline game, and won 65 of 118 points at the net. Murray had reached the quarterfinals or better on his previous seven trips to Australia but never won the title.
Sports on 01/23/2017