World No. 1 Ash Barty's dream of becoming the first homegrown Australian Open champion since 1978 ended in extraordinary fashion with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Muchova was like a different player following a medical timeout in the second set and rallied to secure a place in her first Grand Slam semifinal. She'll face big-serving Jennifer Brady, who staged a comeback to beat Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a battle of Americans, in the semifinals.
Barty wasted no time in asserting her authority early and coasted to a 5-0 lead on her way to winning the first set.