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Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Aussie top seed crashes, just as fans cleared to return

World number one Ashleigh Barty slides to a shock defeat in the quarter-finals of the Austraila Open

MELBOURNE – Top seed and home hope Ashleigh Barty’s Australian Open came to a juddering halt in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, just as fans were cleared to return after an eerie, five-day coronavirus lockdown.

Barty had raised expectations of ending Australia’s 43-year wait for a home winner but her campaign was ended by Czech surprise package Karolina Muchova, who stunned the top seed 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Muchova will face Jennifer Brady in the last four after the 22nd seed beat her fellow American and close friend Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

In the men’s draw, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev contest an all-Russian quarter-final and Rafael Nadal, targeting a record 21st Grand Slam title, plays Stefanos…

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