Alexander Zverev cruised into the Australian Open third round with a statement win over Pedro Martinez, while Tommy Paul came from a set down to beat Kei Nishikori.

Zverev, who reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, emerged a 6-1 6-4 6-1 victor over his Spanish opponent to set up a clash with Great Britain's Jacob Fearnley.

The German conceded his fewest games (six) in a single match at the Australian Open, surpassing the seven games he lost to Adrian Mannarino back in 2021.

Zverev (103) is also the only player born since 1990 to have claimed 100+ men’s singles match wins at grand slam events.

The German has now won 28 of his 32 second-round matches at grand slam events, his last loss coming to Michael Mmoh at Melbourne Park in 2023.

Zverev has become known for his long matches across major tournaments in recent years, but he was glad to get his most recent contest done quickly.

"Usually I play 7-6 in the fifth to entertain you guys a bit, [but] I’m getting older, so I have to shorten things up a little bit," Zverev said of his one-hour, 54-minute win.

"Hopefully there will be a lot more of that in the later rounds. I really like playing night matches here. I think the atmosphere is even better at night.

"Every time I get the opportunity to come out here in a night session, I like to make the most of it."

Paul, meanwhile, carried on his fine form from the 2024 season by beating Nishikori 6-7 (3-7) 6-0 6-3 6-1 to continue his quest for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

The American has now won 13 matches at the Australian Open, a tournament where he has prevailed in more main draw matches than any other during his career.

Only at Wimbledon (75%) does Paul have a better win rate than in Melbourne (70.6%) in men’s singles, and he will face Roberto Carballes Baena in round three.