Harriet Dart wins first WTA title at Guangzhou Open, beating Lilli Tagger from a set down

The final

Britain's Harriet Dart won the Guangzhou Open in China, beating Austria's Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the final. Tagger, who is 18, took the opening set, but Dart, a qualifier and the British number five, turned the match around. The 30-year-old from Hampstead dropped serve in the opening game and had to save a break point in her next service game before getting on the board. She broke back for 4-4, but Tagger broke straight back and closed out the first set.

Dart won the first break point of the second set, which gave her a 5-3 lead on her way to levelling the match. In a tense decider, a run of five consecutive breaks of serve ended when Dart saved two break points to hold for 5-3.

Championship points

Dart then reached two championship points. Tagger saved the first with a big serve, but Dart netted a mid-court forehand on the second. She recovered to serve out the match, falling onto her back in delight when the final point was sealed with an unreturned serve.

Speaking on court, Dart said:

“I'll try not to get too emotional. A big thank you to my team this week.”

Path to the final

Dart had saved three match points in her semi-final win over Sun Xinran to reach her first Tour-level final. Tagger had earlier beaten the American Venus Williams. Polish outlet Polsat Sport noted that Magda Linette lost to Tagger 2-6, 2-6 in the second round, ending the Pole's run at the tournament.

Tagger's rise

Tagger won a WTA 250 event in Prague earlier this year. Standard recalled that after her Grand Slam junior title she reached her first WTA final in Jiujiang the previous year, and that she had shown she could compete with the world's best among adults at 17. Her run in Guangzhou ended with a deciding-set defeat in her first final of this tournament.