The Brit, 29, was beaten 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4 by the German and ended his first Grand Slam as the top seed in incredibly disappointing fashion.
Murray was the major favourite to go on to win the tournament following the equally shocking second-round exit of Novak Djokovic at the hands of Denis Istomin and his quest for a title he’d been a losing finalist in on five occasions was ended in barely believable circumstances.
In their previous ATP meeting, back in 2015, Murray had cruised past his opponent, who has a career-high ranking of 45, 6-2 6-2 but Zverev is a man reborn.
The world No. 50, playing in a Grand Slam fourth-round match, said he had seen his own career be inspired by his younger brother, Alexander, who went out in the third round in an epic with Rafael Nadal.
Zverev certainly has one of the most unique playing styles on the ATP tour and his net-rushing style gave Murray a problem to solve in the early exchanges.
The Scot did get a break for 3-1 against the left-hander in the opener but Zverev immediately hit back.
After levelling to 3-3, Murray then faced two break points against the revitalized German but he kept his cool and held firm.
After saving those vital break points, Murray grabbed the initiative to break and lead 5-3 but failed to serve it out, with Zverev striking again.
Unbelievably, Zverev then broke Murray for 6-5 and served out the set – the first Murray had lost in the tournament.
The Scot started the second set brightly, breaking Zverev for 2-0 and denied his opponent three breaking opportunities to move 3-0 up.
However, Zverev, 29, hit back in style and saved four set points to claw his way back to 5-5.
Murray did take his fifth set point, though, and levelled the match up to 1-1.
If Murray fans thought he’d race on to win the match, they were sorely mistaken as Zverev broke midway through the third and took a 4-2 lead.
Incredibly, Zverev then broke again before wrapping up the third 6-2.
Things went from bad to worse for the Brit as the German broke at the start of the fourth set and held on for the win.
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