Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Already a member?
Log in
Harriet Dart reached the semi-finals of a WTA event for only the second time in her career as she fought from a set down to defeat fifth seed Paula Badosa at the Guangzhou Open.
Dart slipped to defeat in the opening set with Badosa looking imperious as she clinically worked her way to 6-3 and placed herself firmly in control of the match.
But, with Badosa twice needing medical attention during the match, Dart responded in thrilling fashion and blitzed her way to winning the second set 6-2 with three breaks and plenty of success behind her first serve.
A 6-4 win in the third and final set completed an incredible comeback and produced one of the biggest wins of her career which sends her into the final four in Guangzhou.
The victory means this is the first time since the Transylvania Open in 2024 that Dart has reached the semi-final stage of a WTA tournament. She will face either Xinran Sun or Claire Liu in the next round.
The run to the semi-finals is even more impressive when accounting for the fact that Dart had to come through two rounds of qualifying before beating Tatiana Prozorova, Janice Tjen and now Badosa.
The 30-year-old ended the match with a win percentage of 76% on the back of her first serve and landed seven aces throughout the three sets. She set up 20 break points and, though she only converted seven of them, she will see that as a positive heading into the next round.
In an on-court interview following the match, Dart said: “It was an incredible battle. I thought Paula started really strongly. I was always behind, but I knew going in that it was going to be an incredibly tough match.
“I really needed to hang in there in the tough moments, and maybe I’d get a chance. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in the business end of a (WTA) tournament, so I’m very proud of that.”
