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She may have let herself down on the court, but Ash Barty was nothing but class in the post-match press conference.
The world No. 1 was knocked out of the Australian Open on Wednesday after suffering a shock 6-1 3-6 2-6 loss to Czech star Karolina Muchova.
Barty dominated the opening set on Rod Laver Arena, but the momentum drastically shifted after Muchova called for a controversial off-court medical time-out early in the second set.
The No. 25 seed pulled off a remarkable comeback after the 10-minute break, ultimately qualifying for her first semi-final in a grand slam tournament.
Following the defeat, reporters inevitably quizzed Barty about Muchova’s time-out, during which the Czech star was treated for dizziness.
The 24-year-old was asked on six occasions about the incident, but refused to make any excuses.
“It’s completely within the rules for her to take it,” Barty said. “That shouldn’t be a massive turning point in the match. I’m disappointed it did become a turning point.
“When you call for the trainer, you tell the umpire what the reason is. Then the physios and doctors come out and assess it and that’s within the rules, so for me that’s not really my decision or concern about what she took the medical time out for.
“When you look down the other end, you can see she was taking her time quite often and it was probably the first warmer day we’ve had here for a while, but I tried not to focus on her too much and it’s about going about it the right way for me.
“I felt like I lost my way a little bit there in the second set and lost that momentum I built, we go back to work and learn from this today.
“Without a doubt it’s disappointing, but we learn and move on and don’t let it ruin what has been a really successful and enjoyable start to the new season.
“It’s within the rules … if she wasn’t within the rules, the physio and the doctors would’ve said so.
“That’s the laws of our game, is that we have those medical time-outs for cases that are needed. Obviously she needed that today. Completely within the rules for her to take that.
“I don’t write the rules. I abide by them. All of us players, we abide by the rules that are written. It’s not my place to comment here whether she had an injury or not.”
After securing the win, Muchova was asked if she’d taken the time-out to have a pre-existing injury treated.
“I was a bit lost on the court and my head was spinning so I took a break. It helped me,” Muchova said.
“No, it was more they just checked my (blood) pressure because I was a bit lost. I was spinning. So they cooled me down a bit with ice and it helped me.”
The 24-year-old Muchova will face either Jennifer Brady or Jessica Pegula in Thursday evening’s semi-final in Melbourne.
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