Dart Beats Teenager Tagger for Maiden Title in Guangzhou
Harriet Dart has won the first WTA Tour singles title of her career. The 30-year-old Briton beat Austria's Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the final of the Guangzhou Open, having started the week in qualifying.
A final that swung both ways
Tagger is 18 and ranked 53rd. She twice wiped out a lead Dart built in the deciding set.
Dart broke serve for a third time to go 4-3 up, then held to get within one game of the title. She had two championship points in the ninth game on Tagger's serve. On the second she dumped a mid-court ball into the net, and the match stayed open.
The third chance went her way. A service winner ended it, and Dart fell to the court before celebrating with her team. Emotion overwhelmed her afterwards.
"It's crazy to be sitting here as champion after coming through qualifying," she told BBC Sport.
Rewards of the week
Dart is British number five and ranked 115th. The title lifts her back inside the top 100. That means a place in the main draw of the Australian Open in January, with no need to qualify.
The Guangzhou Open is a WTA 250 event.
Coming back from behind
Her comeback against Tagger made it four wins in seven matches after dropping the first set. Tagger is the 2025 French Open junior champion and beat seven-time major champion Venus Williams on her way to the final.
Dart said the week showed she could recover "even when I'm down". She added that she had no doubt Tagger would go on to win multiple titles.
Form since Wimbledon
Dart reached a career high of 70th in 2024, with a third round at Wimbledon and a second round at the US Open. Most of the last two seasons she has spent outside the top 100.
Since Wimbledon she has won 19 of 24 tour-level matches on hard courts. Her record for the season is 23 wins from 34 matches, the best winning percentage of her career. She works with former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who has been a big factor in the improvement.
Our view
The Australian Open spot removes a qualifying week from Dart's January. Whether she can hold a place in the top 100 depends on how she follows a title won from qualifying.
Source: BBC Sport