{"id":35790,"date":"2021-02-17T01:53:08","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T02:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=35790"},"modified":"2021-02-17T07:00:34","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T07:00:34","slug":"controversial-moment-that-wiped-bartys-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=35790","title":{"rendered":"Controversial moment that wiped Barty's Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

World No.1 Ash Barty is out of the Australian Open after capitulating from a dominant position, losing her quarter-final against Karolina Muchova 6-1 3-6 2-6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After blitzing her Czech opponent 6-1 in the first set, it seemed as though nothing could stop Barty from advancing to the semi-final.<\/p>\n

Watch the Australian Open with live streams of every court at 9Now. Click here to start watching!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Barty<\/p>\n

However, the match changed drastically when Muchova left the court for nearly 10 minutes early in the second set, already down a break, with her back against the wall at 1-2.<\/p>\n

Barty appeared agitated by the sudden break in play and her near flawless game disappeared from sight from that point on.<\/p>\n

It was clearly the decisive moment, with Muchova explaining to Nine's Jim Courier after the match that she had been "lost" on the court, her head spinning in the heat and she had taken the time out to regulate her body temperature.<\/p>\n

"They just checked my [blood] pressure and because I was a bit lost, I was spinning, so they cooled me down a bit, with ice, and it helped me," Muchova said.<\/p>\n

\"Muchova<\/p>\n

Without a shadow of doubt the treatment worked.<\/p>\n

Muchova broke back instantly when play resumed and the momentum shift was drastic, with Barty spraying unforced errors consistently throughout the rest of the second set, dropping it 3-6 from a dominant position to force an unlikely decider.<\/p>\n

After winning eight of the first 10 games of the match, Barty went on to lose 11 of the next 14.<\/p>\n

Barty was described by Jim Courier as a "runaway train" in the first set, but if that was the case the medical time-out took the tracks out from under her.<\/p>\n

Whether or not the break, coming at a time of complete Barty dominance, was 'gamesmanship' it stirred plenty of debate, both in the commentary box and throughout the tennis world.<\/p>\n

American legend Pam Shriver perhaps said it best in a tweet that stated Muchova had played a legitimate card, but that it still didn't sit comfortably.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/PHShriver\/status\/1361854516669390848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking at the end of the second set, Australia's Billie Jean Cup captain Alicia Molik attempted to explain the change that had come over the match in the unexpected 10 minute break.<\/p>\n

"I didn't see this coming at all," Molik said on Nine's coverage.<\/p>\n

"I think Ash actually got a bit frustrated from Muchova's injury time out. It switched the momentum and right now what I'm seeing is Ash not completely releasing off the forehand side and it's a little bit to her own detriment.<\/p>\n

"Just I feel from watching from the side of the court here is her [ball] toss is low and too far out in front. She's not able to use her great kick serve."<\/p>\n

\"Molik<\/p>\n

Muchova took a bathroom break after squaring the match and once again she came out the stronger of the two following the delay.<\/p>\n

She broke Barty in the first game of the deciding set and held for 2-0, putting the world No.1 instantly on the back foot and facing a shock elimination.<\/p>\n

Try as she might, Barty couldn't wrestle the momentum back, with Muchova playing high quality tennis throughout the third set, before giving herself the security of a double break to ensure the upset.<\/p>\n

Returning at 5-2, Barty had an opportunity to extend the match and force Muchova to serve for it a second time but she was unable to capitalise on a break point, with the Czech scrambling superbly to stave off the challenge.<\/p>\n

While that will be the last we see of the Australian 24-year-old this tournament, her manner of departure will be a talking point that rumbles on, with her close friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua conceding the time-out was within the rules but difficult to swallow<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Barty's<\/p>\n

Speaking in her press conference after the match Barty was more diplomatic in her reaction.<\/p>\n

"I don't write the rules. I don't write the rules. I abide by them. All of us players, we abide by the rules that are written," Barty said.<\/p>\n

"It's not my place to comment here whether she had an injury or not. That's the physios and the doctors.<\/p>\n

"Obviously that she's taken her medical time-out meant that there was something wrong. She was within the rules, within the guidelines to take that time."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World No.1 Ash Barty is out of the Australian Open after capitulating from a dominant position, losing her quarter-final against Karolina Muchova 6-1 3-6 2-6. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35790"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35792,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35790\/revisions\/35792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}