Tennis Australian Open Ash Barty beaten in quarterfinals
- by Leland Aguilar
- in Entertaiment
- — Feb 17, 2021
Karolina Muchova (right) is congratulated by top seed Ashleigh Barty after the Czech 25th seed's 1-6, 6-3.
Top-ranked Ash Barty built a big lead in her quarterfinal match at the Australian Open before her opponent took an injury timeout and left the court.
The match may have started in the morning under the beating sun, but the quarter-final delivered enough twists and turns worthy of a primetime match at Rod Laver Arena.
The Aussie native took the first set 6-1 in just 24 minutes, hitting six unforced errors to Muchova's 13.
Muchová will now take on either USA young gun Jessica Pegula or Jennifer Brady who will face off later on Wednesday. I was a bit lost on the court and my head was spinning, so I took a break.
Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, had made a flying start to her year, winning the warm-up Yarra Valley Classic and had not lost a set before meeting Muchova.
Not letting up, Barty broke Muchova for a third time in the opening game of the second set to continue her utter domination.
Comebacks have been a staple in the tournament for Muchova, who rallied in earlier matches to win sets after trailing 5-0 and 4-0.
The final set was every bit as gripping as you'd expect an Australian Open quarter-final to be, with Muchova breaking Barty's serve in the first game before the Queenslander squandered multiple break back points in the following service game, losing her serve once more as the match petered out.
There was no sign of trouble for Barty early on as the top seed dropped just seven points while charging to a 5-0 lead in the first set.
Medical personnel took her temperature, checked her blood pressure and gave her ice before she left the court. Barty's momentum was disrupted and Muchova broke back straight away. After nine games, Muchova had one victor and 18 unforced errors, and early in the second set, she took an injury timeout that lasted almost 10 minutes. Barty finished with 37 unforced errors and lost serve four times in the final two sets.
