Karolina Muchova staged a stunning comeback Thursday to upset Ashleigh Barty and storm into the Australian Open semi-finals, rallying from ...
Karolina Muchova staged a stunning comeback Thursday to upset Ashleigh Barty and storm into the Australian Open semi-finals, rallying from a set down to shatter the world number one’s dreams.
The Czech 25th seed looked on her way out after Barty raced through the opening set, but after a medical timeout Muchova returned a different player to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena as the Australian crumbled.
She will face either Jennifer Brady or Jessica Pegula, both American, for a place in the final.
“I started feeling a bit lost by the end of the first set. She played almost like no mistakes,” said Muchova, whose best previous Grand Slam run was to the last eight at Wimbledon in 2019.
“It was very tough and I was a bit lost on the court and my head was spinning so I took a break. It helped me. I tried to get back, played a bit faster rallies so we don’t play the long ones as in the first set and it worked well.”
Her come-from-behind win ended top seed Barty’s hopes of becoming the first home winner at the Australian Open in 43 years after Chris O’Neil’s breakthrough in 1978.
Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, had made a flying start...
