First Local Woman Reaches Australian Open Semifinals in 36 Years

Today, Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian woman to reach the Australian Open semifinals in 36 years after a tough match against Czechia’s Petra Kvitova.

The now 23-year-old Barty has been playing tennis since she was 4 years old. Her coach at the time, Jim Joyce, stated that he did not usually train children as young as Barty, but that her hand-eye-coordination was excellent. Barty was playing against male adults when she was 12 years old.

Her dedication has been lauded as astounding. During Barty’s junior schedule she was only home for 27 days out of the year.

Barty triumphed over Kvitova after losing to her last year during the quarterfinals. It took Barty an hour and 44 minutes to avenge her loss from the previous year. During the first set between the two Kvitoa nearly overpowered Barty, but with quick thought and amazing composure, Barty was able to win the set.

This win has set Barty to follow in the footsteps of Australian tennis player Wendy Turnbull, who reached the semifinals in 1984.

Barty will play American 14th seed Sofia Kenin on Thursday for a spot in Saturday night’s title decider. Barty has won four of her five clashes with Kenin, including their fourth-round showdown last year in Paris.