Top rated Ash Barty was upset in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the 25th seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.
Muchova won 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 over the Australian to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal on Thursday.
She receives the number 22 Jennifer Brady, who won the 61st place Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the American quarterfinals. Brady, one of 72 players who were unable to leave her hotel room for two weeks last month as part of a rigid blockade, also made it to last year’s four US Open finals.
“I would say I had no high expectations of myself to do well,” said Brady, noting that the two-week break before her Australian Open preparation event in Melbourne gave her a chance to restart after playing without stopping since June. “Mentally I was feeling a little bit fried [before the quarantine], to be honest.”
Barty’s defeat means that the winner of Thursday’s other semi-final between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams (10 pm ET on Wednesday in the US) will likely be a significant favorite to win the tournament.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men
Barty, 24, was trying to become the first Australian player to reach the final in Melbourne since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005 and the first to win since Chris O’Neil in 1978. She lost in the semifinals last year to the eventual champion Sofia Kenin.
2019 French Open champion Barty maintained his position at the top of the pandemic despite spending more than a year between games. She won her first 11 sets at this event, through the first set against Muchova.
Muchova was terrible in that first 24-minute set – a winner for 13 unforced mistakes. Muchova took a medical break in the second set, and then won seven of the next eight games, while Barty collapsed.
“I was a little lost on the court and my head was spinning, so I took a break,” said Muchova, adding that she was chilled with ice outside the court during the nine-minute break.
Barty said that what Muchova did was within the rules.
“She has a right to use that time,” she said. “If she was not within the rules, physiotherapists and doctors would have said that.
“It is not my job to comment here if she has an injury or not. These are physiotherapists and doctors. “
Barty played without what would have been the overwhelming support of the Rod Laver Arena crowd. The fan ban due to a five-day coronavirus block in the area ends on Thursday.
“I was disappointed to have left this [medical timeout] became a turning point, ”she said. “I have enough experience now to be able to handle it.”
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