Dart saves three match points to reach first WTA singles final in Guangzhou

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Harriet Dart reached the first WTA Tour singles final of her career on Saturday, saving three match points before overcoming Chinese wildcard Xinran Sun at the Guangzhou Open. The British qualifier recovered to win 5–7, 7–6 (1), 6–0 and will play Austria’s Lilli Tagger for the title on Sunday.

The result gives the 30-year-old a chance to claim her first tour-level singles trophy, 11 years after her WTA debut at Eastbourne. Fourth seed Tagger secured the other place in the final with a 6–2, 6–0 victory over Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo.

Dart’s route to the final was considerably more demanding. Problems on serve cost her in the opening set against Sun, the 16-year-old reigning US Open junior champion. The Briton then broke twice early in the second set, only for the home player to recover immediately on both occasions.

With her hopes of a first final under threat, Dart survived three match points in the second set and eventually forced a tie-break. She won it 7–1, before taking every game in the decider to complete the turnaround in almost two and a half hours.

Sun received treatment on her left leg during the contest and was unable to regain her earlier momentum. Dart continued to apply pressure and won 28 of the 41 points played in the final set.

The victory extended a week of hard-fought wins for Dart, with five of her six matches in Guangzhou going to three sets. She had already beaten second seed Janice Tjen and fifth seed Paula Badosa, recovering from a set down against Badosa in Friday’s quarter-final.

Sunday’s final will be Dart and Tagger’s first tour meeting. A title would also return Dart, who entered the week ranked No. 115, to the world’s top 100.