British player Harriet Dart secured her first WTA tour singles title on Sunday by winning the Guangzhou Open final. She fought back to defeat Austrian Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a dramatic championship match.
Ranked 115th in the world and sitting as the British number five, Dart works with coach and former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli. She experienced a slow start after losing her serve in the opening game.
Tagger claimed the first set 4-6. Dart pulled level at 4-4, but Tagger broke again immediately and successfully served out the set.
Dart seized the first break point of the second set to go up 5-3, eventually equalizing the match and forcing a deciding third set.
The final set saw constant momentum shifts as both competitors exchanged five breaks of serve in a row. Dart managed to stabilize by saving two break points to hold for 5-3 before closing out the victory.
With this win, Dart enters history as the 14th British woman to claim an open era title. She achieved the feat through a grueling path, contesting three sets in all five of her main draw matches.
First WTA Level Singles Title (In Open Era)
Ann Jones also won titles from 1968-71.
Virginia Wade - British Hard Court Open, Bournemouth 1968
Sue Barker - Surbiton, 1974
Jo Durie - Mahwah, 1983
Anne Hobbs - Indianapolis, 1983 (also Auckland, 1985)
Annabel Croft - San Diego 1985
Monique Javer - Singapore, 1988
Sara Gomer - Aptos, 1988
Heather Watson - Osaka, 2012
Jo Konta - Stanford, 2016
Emma Raducanu - US Open, 2021
Katie Boulter - Nottingham Open, 2023
Sonay Kartal - Monastir, 2024
Harriet Dart - Guangzhou, 2026
Dart accomplished a rare feat by spending 11 hours and 54 minutes on court during the tournament. Including her two qualifying matches, she logged a total of 15 hours and ten minutes on court during the week.
