MELBOURNE, Australia – Top-ranked Ash Barty won a big advantage in his Australian Open quarter-final match before his opponent took an injury break and left the field.
More than an hour later, Barty suddenly made his way out. She was upset Wednesday by Karolina Muchova, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sown with the number 25, Muchova won her first semifinal instead of a Grand Slam. Winning her return put an end to Barty’s bid to become the first Australian woman to win the Melbourne title in Chris O’Neil in 1978.
Muchova’s opponent, on Thursday, will be the winner of the last quarter final, a completely American match between Jennifer Brady, ranked 22nd, and Jessica Pegula.
Muchova played poorly at the start of the second major quarterfinal, and Barty made it 5-0 while losing just six points. After nine games, Muchova had a winner and 18 unforced errors, and at the beginning of the second set, he took an injury timeout that lasted almost 10 minutes.
“I started to feel a little lost,” Muchova said. “Ash started very well. He played almost as if without mistakes; It was very hard. I was a bit lost on the field and my head was spinning, so I took a break. And he helped me. ”
The medical staff took his temperature, checked his blood pressure and gave him ice before leaving the court. When the Czech returned, she played much better.
“We tried to play rallies a little faster, so we didn’t play the long ones like in the first set,” said Muchova, “and it worked well.”
The comebacks were a key element in the tournament for Muchova, who gathered in previous matches to win sets after watching 5-0 and 4-0.
Against Barty, he started moving around the yard to hit his base shots earlier. Barty, pushed behind the baseline, became undecided and erratic.
In a single stretch, Muchova won eight of nine games. Barty finished with 37 unforced errors and lost four times in the last two sets.
Muchova’s only other victory over a top five was against No. 3 Karolina Pliskova at Wimbledon in 2019.