Ashleigh Barty said Tuesday that she prefers the quiet life but there is no chance of that after Australia's world number one reached the semi-finals of her home Grand Slam for the first time.

The top seed plays 14th-seeded American Sofia Kenin in the last four after surviving a tough first set to defeat Petra Kvitova 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

There is intense pressure on the 23-year-old Barty, the last remaining Australian in the tournament, to deliver the first homegrown women's champion since Chris O'Neil in 1978.

She is the face of the Australian Open and her picture is on billboards all over Melbourne.