Ashleigh Barty Loses in Australian Open Quarterfinals

The top-seeded Ashleigh Barty, who represented her country’s best chance for a homegrown Australian Open champion, lost in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, falling 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to the 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.

Barty began the match in dominant form, leading Muchova by a set and a break at 6-1, 2-0 at Rod Laver Arena.

Muchova took an off-court medical timeout early in the second set, with doctors checking her vital signs and cooling her down with ice.

“My head was spinning, so I took a break,” Muchova said in her on-court interview after the match.

After Muchova returned to the court, Barty became inconsistent. At 2-1, she hit four unforced errors to drop her serve and level the second set. She finished with 19 unforced errors in the second set, after having only six in the first.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/sports/tennis/ashleigh-barty-australian-open.html