MELBOURNE, Australia – Leading 6-1, 2-1 in his quarterfinal match against world No. 25 Karolina Muchova, No. 1 in the world, Ashleigh Barty had one foot in the final four of the Australian Open, and the nation’s dream of crowning its first home -grown champion since Christine O’Neil in 1978 was approaching.
Barty totally dominated Muchova on the opening set, continuing the dominant race she had done this year in Melbourne Park. She won 25 points, against Muchova’s 11, made just six unforced mistakes and was playing a tennis brand that would make the remaining four women – including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka – more than a little nervous at the prospect of facing her deeply in the tournament.
But in scenes reminiscent of the Australian Open men’s final last year between world number one Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem, a controversial injury timeout turned the match upside down. Muchova took advantage of the break not to seek treatment for a previous abdominal injury, but to recover; after a break of almost 10 minutes, the Czech backed 11 of the next 15 games to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 and send Barty out of his home Slam.
With Barty taking advantage of his momentum for an early serve break to reach 2-0 in the second set, a flat Muchova was left in search of answers. When the 24-year-old left the court, she signaled to chairman Carlos Ramos that she needed medical time. Muchova did not appear to be suffering from any particular illness, but it was nonetheless granted and she left the court to receive treatment shortly thereafter.
“I started to feel a little lost at the end of the first set and my head was spinning, so I took a break,” explained Muchova after the match. “They cooled me down a little bit with ice and it helped me.”
This 10-minute break from the start proved to be the catalyst for an impressive turnaround, which is likely to haunt Barty for some time.
Muchova immediately tied the second set at 2-2 and, out of nowhere, it was the Czech who was playing the best tennis. Barty’s focus fell and suddenly the balls that were painting the lines at Rod Laver Arena in the first set and three games were being spread everywhere. She was throwing balls at the net and making double mistakes more often than we had seen in the entire tournament.
It was almost as if Barty thought the task had been completed and could not motivate himself back to the top gear.
The second set was pocketed by Muchova in 52 minutes and when she managed to break Barty in the first game of the decisive set, the expression of concern on the Australian’s face became more evident. For the first time in the tournament, Barty was not a favorite to advance to the next stage.
Barty, stunned and in shock, continued the battle, but spread unforced errors all over the court, allowing Muchova to break again shortly afterwards for a 5-2 lead. The Czech then drew the match – guaranteeing her first place in the semifinal in a Grand Slam.
“It’s a disappointment today, without a doubt,” said Barty after the defeat. “I would have loved to have done better and to be a little sharper in the next game [after the medical timeout]. I just made some loose mistakes in that game. I think for the rest of the set, that was the story. “
The change in momentum after the medical break was stark. Muchova had hit just one winner before leaving the court, but managed to hit 16 when he returned. Meanwhile, Barty’s six unforced errors increased to 37 at the end of the game. She was shaken.
“I felt like I lost my way with overplay, overpress, not allowing myself to work on the points and actually build points as well as I would like,” she said. “I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t bring the game back on my terms.”
For the second year in a row, Barty missed a golden chance to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Twelve months ago, she was the only player in the top 10 ranking to reach the semifinals in Melbourne Park, but failed to seize the opportunity and fell to eventual champion Sofia Kenin in two sets in the penultimate round.
This year, perhaps, he was even kinder to Barty, with the draw opening significantly throughout the tournament. The best seeds in their half of the draw in Kenin, Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina were all kicked out at the beginning, leaving Barty with Muchova’s unknown trio, Jennifer Brady and Jessica Pegula on their side of the draw in the quarterfinal stage .
Golden opportunities, like these, of winning his Grand Slam at home do not appear as often and Barty wasting two in consecutive years is a major disappointment.
“It’s heartbreaking, no doubt,” she said. “But we went through everything and learned from all these experiences. Will it stop me, will it ruin the fact that we had a really successful start to the season? No way.”