Harriet Dart beat Lilli Tagger to win her first WTA Tour title at the Guangzhou Open. Dart, who saved three match points in her semi-final win over Sun Xinran to reach her first Tour-level final, edged a thrilling match against the 18-year-old from Austria 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Qualifier Dart, the British No 5 who is coached by former Wimbledon champion and Sky Sports analyst Marion Bartoli, dropped serve in the opening game and had to save a break point in her next service game before finally getting on the board. The 30-year-old from Hampstead broke back for 4-4, but Tagger hit straight back before wrapping up the first set. Dart took the first break point of the second set for 5-3 on her way to levelling the match.
In a tense deciding set, a run of five consecutive breaks of serve ended when gutsy Dart saved two break points to hold for 5-3. She then brought up two championship points, but a big Tagger serve saved the first before Dart netted a mid-court forehand on the second. Dart wiped that miss from her mind to serve out the match, falling on her back in delight when victory was sealed with an unreturned serve.
Dart's victory lifted her back into the top 100 of the WTA rankings at world No 83 and should ensure direct entry into the Australian Open, which runs from 11-31 January at Melbourne Park. In Tokyo, Russia's Diana Shnaider overcame a second-set collapse to beat Canada's Leylah Fernandez 6-4 5-7 6-2 to claim the Pan Pacific Open title.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing