Harriet Dart Claims Maiden WTA Title After Thrilling Guangzhou Comeback

Britain’s Harriet Dart captured the first WTA Tour singles title of her career on Sunday, edging out fast-rising Austrian teenager Lilli Tagger in the Guangzhou Open final.

The 30-year-old was visibly overcome with emotion following a tense 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The gutsy triumph capped a remarkable week for Dart, who battled through qualifying to hoist the trophy at the WTA 250 event.

“It’s crazy to be sitting here as champion after coming through qualifying — it’s mad really,” Dart told BBC Sport. “It’s been a wild week; I’m super proud of myself.”

The British No. 5, ranked 115th in the world, twice saw leads in the deciding set erased by the 18-year-old Tagger.

However, Dart broke for a third time to lead 4-3 and held serve to move within a game of the title.

She held two championship points on Tagger’s serve at 5-3 — missing the second by dumping a mid-court volley into the net — but regrouped to seal the biggest win of her career.

Dart converted her third championship point with a service winner, collapsing to the court in joy before celebrating with her team.

Beyond the trophy, Dart’s career-best week will propel her back inside the world’s top 100.

That ranking ensures direct entry into the main draw of the Australian Open, the season’s opening Grand Slam, in January.

Resilience has been the hallmark of Dart’s run; the comeback against Tagger — the 2025 French Open junior champion — marked the fourth time in seven matches she has won after dropping the first set.

“This week shows that even when I’m down — and people think I’m down and out — I’m still able to overcome it,” Dart added. “Today was a really tough match. I have no doubt Lilli will go on and win multiple titles. To come through a week like this means a lot.”

The title serves as rich reward for a superb second half of the season, during which Dart has struck the ball consistently and grown in confidence.

After reaching a career-high ranking of No. 70 in 2024 — fueled by a Wimbledon third-round appearance and a US Open second-round run — Dart had spent much of the past two seasons outside the top 100.

Her resurgence has been significantly aided by working with former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli.

Since Wimbledon, Dart has won 19 of 24 tour-level matches on hard courts, bringing her overall WTA Tour record this season to 23-11 — the highest winning percentage of her career.

“It wasn’t fun to be on the other side of the court today — you’ve had an amazing year,” Tagger, who upset seven-time major champion Venus Williams en route to the final, told Dart.

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