Australian Open: Ash Barty falls victim to curse of Melbourne Park, defeated by Sofia Kenin

Ash Barty’s loss to Sofia Kenin continues a hoodoo that has denied the hosts a singles champion since the tournament was moved from Kooyong in 1988.

Barty suffered a mystifying 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 defeat in what could only be described as a bludger of a match. Picture: Michael Klein

Ash Barty has fallen victim to the curse of Melbourne Park, losing her Australian Open semi-final to American Sofia Kenin to continue a hoodoo that has denied the hosts a singles champion since the tournament was moved from the traditional stomping ground of Kooyong in 1988.

Hard courts. Harder task. Barty suffered a mystifying 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 defeat in what could only be described as a bludger of a match. She responded by scooping up her toddler niece, Olivia, and taking to her post-match media conference. When the little bundle of, um, joy, started crying, Barty sounded as clucky as she had been plucky, telling her, “I hear you, sister.”

Barty told the assembled reporters: “It’s my newest niece. My sister just had her about 11, 12 weeks ago. This is what life is all about. It’s amazing. Her name is Olivia. She’s telling you that right now. Perspective is a beautiful thing. Life is a beautiful thing. She brought a smile to my face as soon as I came off the court. I got to give her a hug. It’s all good. It’s all good.”

Barty holds niece Olivia at her post-match media conference. Picture: Getty

Barty and Kenin were both all bad, all bad, for large portions of a scratchy old match. As if the ghost of Pat Cash’s 1988 defeat had come back to haunt Barty, she and Kenin made a combined 61 unforced errors and 49 forced errors. A century, plus change, of mistakes. Not the sort of ton a Melbourne sporting crowd wanted to applaud, creating a strangely muted and ghostly atmosphere inside a normally buzzing Rod Laver Arena. The vibe was this: fingers down a chalkboard, what on Earth is going on? When Barty missed a forehand on match point to push the error count to 110, even Kenin dropped her racquet in disbelief.

Barty became the latest in an illustrious list of elite Australian players to come a cropper since the tradition of grass courts was ditched for the concrete of Melbourne Park. In the first men’s final at the new venue in 1988, Cash lost a five-set heartbreaker to Mats Wilander. As if the pain of that defeat has lingered ever since, a host of Australia’s major champions and world number ones have been spookily inefficient here. Pat Rafter had the game to win multiple Opens but he never went beyond the semi-finals. Lleyton Hewitt was beset by injuries and illnesses and even when he looked a good thing in 2005, he was stunned by Marat Safin. Sam Stosur won the US Open but played in Melbourne like 15,000 black cats were in the audience. Barty was the top seed, the world number one, but her 65 errors left the Australian tally at Melbourne Park at zero.

“It’s disappointing,” she said. “But it’s been a hell of a summer.” Asked if the enormity of the occasion had been too much, she replied: “Not at all. I’ve been in a grand slam semi-final before. Yes, it’s different at home. But I enjoyed the experience. I love being out there. I’ve loved every minute of playing in Australia over the last month.”