Dart additionally mentioned that she had multiple family members situated throughout New York to support her.
“My uncle and cousins are local residents, another cousin from the UK is visiting right now, my mother has been by my side since the qualifying rounds began, and my father arrived by plane yesterday evening,” she shared.
“New York constantly gives me the feeling of being a second home.
“It feels like a true community to me, and I was highly aware of the encouragement from the crowd.”
During the match’s opening game, Dart failed to capitalize on any of her four break-point chances, and Stearns prevented her from getting another opportunity for the remainder of the first set.
Stearns applied constant pressure when the British player was serving, ultimately securing a break in the eighth game.
Although Dart lost her serve again at the start of the second set, she took advantage of an increasingly inconsistent performance from Stearns—who registered 40 winners but countered them with 47 unforced errors—to break twice and send the match into a final set.
Taking charge in the middle of the deciding set, Dart managed a vital service hold in the sixth game, halting a sequence of three straight breaks of serve, and eventually sealed an anxious victory on her fourth match point in just under two and a half hours.
With this victory, Dart progresses to the second round alongside fellow British players Toby Samuel and Katie Boulter.
