MELBOURNE, Australia – The best Ash Barty built a huge lead in her Australian Open quarter-final before her opponent was injured and left the field.
More than an hour later, it was Barty who came out of the exit abruptly. She was upset by Karolina Muchova on Wednesday, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Placed No. 25, Muchova earned her first semifinal berth in a Grand Slam. Her comeback win ended Barty’s bid to become the first Australian woman to win the Melbourne title since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
Muchova’s opponent will be the winner of the last quarter-final on Thursday, an all-American match between Jennifer Brady with number 22 and unseeded Jessica Pegula.
Muchova played poorly at the start of her second major quarter-final and Barty raced to a 5-0 lead while losing just six points. After nine games, Muchova had one winner and 18 unforced errors, and early in the second set, she was given an injury time-out that lasted nearly 10 minutes.
“I started to feel a bit lost,” Muchova said. Ash started very well. She played almost like no mistakes; it was very difficult. I was a little lost on the track and my head was spinning, so I took a break. And it helped me. ”
Medical staff took her temperature, checked her blood pressure, and gave her ice before leaving court. When the Czech returned, she played much better.
“I tried to play faster rallies so we don’t play long rallies like we did in the first set,” said Muchova, “and it worked well.”
Comebacks were an important part of the tournament for Muchova, who rallied in previous games to win sets after trailing 5-0 and 4-0.
Against Barty, she began to take to court to hit her foundations earlier. Barty, pushed behind the baseline, became indecisive and erratic.
During one play Muchova won eight of the nine matches. Barty finished with 37 unforced errors and lost four times in the last two sets.
Muchova’s only other top-five win was against number 3 Karolina Pliskova at Wimbledon in 2019.