A Rollercoaster Semi-Final for the Ages
Harriet Dart is through to the biggest singles final of her career after overcoming Chinese wildcard Sun Xinran 5-7, 7-6, 6-0 in a breathtaking Guangzhou Open semi-final that lasted just under two and a half hours. The 30-year-old British qualifier, who made her WTA Tour debut back in 2015 in Eastbourne, was playing only her second tour-level singles semi-final, and she made it count in spectacular fashion.
Dart found herself in serious trouble throughout the second set, having to serve twice just to stay alive in the match, and twice being broken back immediately after breaking Sun. When the set reached a tiebreak, however, Dart was dominant, taking it 7-1 to level the contest. She had also clashed repeatedly with the chair umpire over crowd noise during that pressure-packed set, with the partisan home crowd rooting hard for the 16-year-old Sun, reigning US Open junior champion.
History Made, Rankings Boost on the Way
With Sun struggling physically and receiving a medical timeout for treatment on her left leg, Dart swept through the deciding set without dropping a single game, winning 28 of the 41 points played in that final stretch. A tearful Dart described the achievement as something that "means the world," acknowledging it had been a long and difficult road to this moment.
The result has already propelled Dart 14 places up the live rankings to 101st. A victory in Sunday's final against either fourth seed Lilli Tagger or Kaitlin Quevedo would push her back inside the world's top 100. TennisDraw users flagged Dart as a surprise contender to watch when the Guangzhou bracket was first unveiled.
