Harriet Dart Reaches First WTA Singles Final in Guangzhou

Harriet Dart reached her first WTA Tour singles final Saturday, saving three match points before defeating Sun Xinran 5–7, 7–6(1), 6–0 at the Guangzhou Open. The British qualifier will face fourth seed Lilli Tagger for the title.

Dart escaped the three match points at 5–5 in the second set and then dominated the tiebreak. She won the deciding set without dropping a game, completing the comeback after two hours and 25 minutes, the Lawn Tennis Association reported.

Sun, the reigning US Open junior champion, had recovered from a break down late in the first set to take it. The 16-year-old required a medical timeout later in the match, while Dart completed a second consecutive recovery from losing the opening set.

Dart’s quarterfinal followed a similar pattern against former world No. 2 Paula Badosa. She lost the first set before winning 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, ending that match when Badosa double-faulted in the tenth game of the decider.

The 30-year-old had already won twice in qualifying before beating Tatiana Prozorova, Janice Tjen and Badosa in the main draw. Her semifinal victory therefore extended the Guangzhou run to six matches, with one more win needed to claim the singles championship.

Dart made her WTA debut at Eastbourne in 2015, 11 years ago, and first reached the top 100 in 2022. Her previous tour-level singles semifinal came at the 2024 Transylvania Open, where Karolína Plíšková stopped her in straight sets.

She has already played Tagger in a final this season, losing 6–4, 6–2 at the W100 tournament in Fujairah. Dart has also won 2026 doubles titles in Nottingham and Prague with Maia Lumsden, but Sunday offers a first tour-level singles trophy. Her 2021 Wimbledon mixed doubles final, played alongside Joe Salisbury, ended in defeat against compatriots Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk.