The world number one was shocked 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 by the 14th seed at Melbourne Park to ensure that the host nation's title drought goes on.

Kenin will now play Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza in the final after she beat Romania's Simona Halep 7-6 (10-8), 7-5.

In the men's tournament, record winner and defending champion Novak Djokovic eased past fellow legend Roger Federer 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-3 to book his place in the final.

Top seed Barty was seen as the best chance in years to become the first Australian winner in singles since Chris O'Neil's women's title in 1978.

The American had not previously reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam but 23-year-old Barty came unstuck at crucial moments.

In the first set the French Open champion forced three break points to Kenin's zero but could not prevent a tiebreak.

She then had two set points in the breaker at 6-4 but lost four points in a row to go behind.

Barty also served for the second set at 5-4 but was broken, and she would win just two further points as Kenin completed her victory.

"It's a dream come true for me," the 21-year-old Kenin, who was born in Moscow, said.

"It's surreal. 

"I always believed I can, I didn't know exactly when. 

"I feel like at this young age, I think it's incredible. 

"Not everyone gets to live this moment, live this dream. 

"I'm just really grateful for it.

"Of course, I'd like to first apologise to all of the Australian fans. 

"I know they wanted her to win, it's not easy for them." 

Muguruza, a former world number one and a previous winner of Wimbledon and the French Open, was unseeded at a grand slam for the first time since 2014.

The Venezuela-born player reached a first final in Australia as she knocked out reigning Wimbledon champion Halep, the fourth seed who reached the final in Melbourne in 2018.

Halep had not lost a set all tournament and Muguruza needed three set points to win the opening tiebreak 10-8.

She then broke the Romanian when she was serving for the second set before seeing out the match.

"Definitely the mission is to get away from here with a big trophy," Muguruza said. 

"But big or small celebration, it's an incredible achievement.

"It really depends on how you're feeling. 

"I believe in myself that I have what it takes to play these kind of matches and to be on this stage." 

Djokovic, seeded second, is hoping for an eighth Australian Open title and a 17th grand slam.

He was too strong for the Swiss who had already survived two five-set encounters en-route to the last four.

Federer was hoping for a 21st grand slam title and a seventh in Australia but struggled with the physical demands of the contest.

However, he did open up a 5-2 lead in the opening set before the Serbian decisively turned things around.

"Respect to Roger for coming out tonight," Djokovic said.

"He was obviously hurt.

"He wasn't even close to his best in terms of movement, and respect for coming out and trying his best throughout.

"It wasn't the right mindset from my side. 

"I was looking more at how he was moving, what he was doing, rather than executing my shots in the right way. 

"It resulted in being 1-4, 0-40 down. 

"I managed to dig my way back and it was very important to win that first set. 

"After that I relaxed a bit mentally and could swing through the ball a bit more."

The second men's semi-final between Austria's Dominic Thiem and Germany's Alexander Zverev is tomorrow.