By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, October 31, 2026
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
A defiant Harriet Dart saved two match points to fight into her first WTA final.
World No. 115 Dart rallied past 16-year-old Chinese phenom Sun Xinran 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-0 battling into her maiden final at the Guangzhou Open.
An emotional Dart pushed back tears after prevailing in a draining duel that saw her save two match points serving at 4-5 in the second set.
“I will say it’s an amazing atmosphere. Thank you guys for coming,” Dart said in her on-court interview. “Even though you weren’t always there for me, I understand, she’s an up and rising amazing Chinese player she has a huge future ahead of her.
“I really found it tough out there it was a real rollercoaster. Naturally, playing in this part of the competition more nerves, more feelings come out. I was really battling with myself today. I was really proud of the second set and I was able to turn it quickly.”
Less than two months after Sun captured the US Open Girls singles championship in Flushing Meadows, the 405th-ranked wild card thrilled home fans becoming the lowest-ranked semifinalist in Guangzhou history.
Sun was one point from rising to her maiden WTA final before Dart broke back for 5-all then tore through the second-set tie break.
Despite playing through qualifying then winning all four of her main-draw matches in three sets, the 30-year-old Dart was fresher than the teenager in the final set.
Dart doubled Sun’s winner total (34 to 17) and will face 18-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger in tomorrow’s final.
The powerful Tagger tore through the final eight straight games crushing Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo 6-2, 6-0.
Playing her 15th Tour-level main-draw of the year, Prague champion Tagger will play for her second title of the season.
“It’s been a really long journey,” Dart said of reaching her first final. “It’s been really hard. I wanted it so badly, sometime too much, to finally be here to be in the final it means the world. Thank you my team for sticking with me.”
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