Harriet Dart of Great Britain advanced to her career’s second WTA Tour semi-final after overcoming a one-set deficit to defeat fifth-seeded Paula Badosa during the Guangzhou Open held in China.
At the Nansha International Tennis Centre, the 30-year-old secured a 3-6 6-2 6-4 victory over Spain’s Badosa—who sits 54 spots higher in the rankings—following a contest lasting two hours and 15 minutes.
Dart previously made her maiden tour semi-final debut at the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, where Karolina Pliskova defeated her in two sets.
Her upcoming opponent in Saturday’s semi-final match will be Sun Xinran, a 16-year-old wildcard player from China.
“A considerable amount of time has passed since I reached the final stages of a competition, so I am extremely thrilled about this,” stated Dart.
“Given how demanding tennis can be, having the chance to take the court again this Saturday represents a fantastic occasion for me.”
Having fought through the qualifying rounds and eliminated second seed Janice Tjen previously, Dart dropped her initial serve in the opening set before recovering to even the score at 3-3.
Nevertheless, Badosa, a former world number two, reclaimed the lead by breaking Dart once more to make it 5-3 prior to serving out the opening frame.
Both players traded service breaks at the onset of the second set, after which Dart grabbed control to bring the set score to 1-1.
Badosa, needing medical assistance twice in the contest while seemingly affected by the warm conditions, fended off a match point at 5-3 in the final set before breaking back.
Yet the world number 61 from Spain ran out of energy during her subsequent service game, allowing Dart to break without losing a point.
“It proved to be an extraordinary contest. Paula launched into the match with great strength. I found myself trailing early on and recognized how challenging the encounter would be,” Dart remarked.
“It was crucial to stay resilient through the difficult phases and anticipate an opportunity. Fortuitously, I capitalized on my moment, and I am thrilled to advance to the semi-finals.”
