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MELBOURNE, Australia – Top-ranked Ash Barty was upset Wednesday by number 25 Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Muchova secured her first place in the semi-finals in a Grand Slam, and her comeback victory ended Barty’s attempt to become the first Australian to win the title in Melbourne since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
Muchova played poorly at the start of her second major quarterfinal, and Barty took a 5-0 lead dropping just six points. After nine games, Muchova had one winner and 18 unforced errors.
At the start of the second set, Muchova took an injury time-out that lasted almost 10 minutes. The medical staff took her pulse and temperature before leaving the field, and when the Czech returned she played much better.
Muchova’s opponent on Thursday will be the winner of the last quarter-final, an all-American game between No.22 seed Jennifer Brady and unranked seed Jessica Pegula.
Comebacks have been a staple of the tournament for Muchova, who rallied in previous matches to win sets after trailing 5-0 and 4-0.
Against Barty, she started moving around the field to hit her groundstrokes earlier. Barty, pushed behind the baseline, became indecisive and erratic.
During one stretch, Muchova won eight of the nine games. Barty finished with 37 unforced errors and lost his serve four times in the last two sets.
Muchova’s only other victory over a top five player was against No.3 Karolina Pliskova at Wimbledon in 2019.
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