Britain’s Harriet Dart is through to the second WTA Tour semi-final of her career after fighting back from a set down to beat fifth seed Paula Badosa 3-6 6-2 6-4 at the Guangzhou Open in China.
Harriet Dart at the Guangzhou Open (Credits: BBC Sport)
Dart stuns Badosa after two-hour 15-minute battle
The 30-year-old qualifier triumphed in two hours and 15 minutes at the Nansha International Tennis Centre, beating a player ranked 54 places above her. Dart lost her opening service game but clawed back to 3-3, before Badosa – struggling with the heat and twice calling the medical timeout – sealed the first set 6-3.
Dart seized control in the second, levelling the match, and then held her nerve in a tense decider. Badosa saved a match point at 5-3 and broke back, but Dart won the next game to love to seal it. “It was an incredible battle. I really needed to hang in there during the tough moments and wait for a chance,” Dart said.
Dart’s road to the Guangzhou semi-final
Dart came through qualifying and knocked out second seed Janice Tjen in the previous round. Her first tour-level semi-final came at the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, where she lost to Karolina Pliskova. She will face either American Claire Liu or 16-year-old Chinese wildcard Sun Xinran in the last four on Saturday.
Dart reached a career high of world No. 70 in 2024 after making the Wimbledon third round, but has spent most of the past two seasons outside the top 100. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in the business end of the tournament, so I am really excited,” she added.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
