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Jennifer Brady and Karolina Muchova are into an unlikely Australian Open semi-final after both ground out three-set wins on Wednesday.
Quarantine killer Jennifer Brady and Ash Barty slayer Karolina Muchova will clash in one of the most improbable Australian Open semi-finals in years after turning the Melbourne Park draw upside down.
Both survived three-setters on Wednesday, with Brady knocking off fellow American Jessica Pegula after Muchova had earlier broken Barty's heart.
The big-hitting 24th-ranked Brady overcame a swathe of early unforced errors to post a 4-6 6-2 6-2 win over her Fed Cup teammate Pegula, the world No.61.
Matching her previous best grand slam finish after a final-four appearance at last year's US Open, Brady's achievement is all the more impressive given she was in hard lockdown before the Melbourne major after being a passenger on one of the infected charter flights to Australia.
She lowered her expectations after being confined to her hotel room for 14 days, while suspecting the break may have actually done her a favour.
"I was pretty much going non-stop since June of last year and I didn't have any weeks off so mentally I was feeling a little bit fried," Brady said.
"I used that two weeks to re-set mentally and also physically.
"I didn't really have high expectations on myself to do well but I came out of the quarantine and was lucky to get a couple matches in before starting in the Australian Open."
The 25-year-old held her nerve after Pegula broke her in the opening serve of the third set and broke straight back, before steaming away with the win.
"I found my way in the second set just playing more aggressive on my terms and towards the end of the third I was just really dialled in and just kept going for my shots," Brady said.
She felt her improved serve and fitness had been key to making the final four in the last two hard court majors, losing in New York in three sets to Naomi Osaka.
Hot favourite Barty suffered a dramatic collapse to surrender 1-6 6-3 6-2 after being up a set and a service break against 25th seed Muchova.
Muchova took a tactical medical time-out while trailing the top seed 6-1 2-1 and the Australian lost her way, dropping nine out of 11 games mid-match.
Barely missing a ball as Barty's unforced error tally mounted, Muchova raced through the remaining sets.
Barty's departure extends the local title drought to at least a 44th year since Chris O'Neil won the women's singles crown in 1978.
Muchova and Brady have only met once before, in 2019, when the Czech was triumphant in three sets on home soil in Prague.
While that match was on clay, Muchova predicted a similar tough tussle on Melbourne's hard court on Thursday.
"She is a very good player, very big strokes, fast ones, so it's definitely going to be tough battle," Muchova said.
"I will have to bring my A game to play with her because she is really playing amazing matches, having a good season."
Heavyweights Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will collide in Thursday's first semi-final.
