Harriet Dart came from a set down on Friday to beat fifth seed Paula Badosa 3-6 6-2 6-4 in the Guangzhou Open quarter-finals. It puts her in the second WTA Tour semi-final of her career. The 30-year-old British qualifier, ranked 115th in the world, won after two hours and 15 minutes when Badosa served her 10th double fault of the match from 0-40 down in the final game.
It is Dart’s first appearance in the last four of a tour-level event since the 2024 Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca. She has now won five matches in a row in Guangzhou, two of them in qualifying.
From a set down to the semi-finals
Badosa, a former world number two, was in control early. She took the opening set 6-3, and Dart later admitted she had been “always behind” in the first half of the match.
The second set was scrappy. Neither player made 40% of their first serves, and the set turned into a series of return games. Dart converted three of her 12 break points in the set, mostly with her backhand return, and levelled the match by taking it 6-2.
Badosa received medical attention twice during the match, and reports from Guangzhou said she was struggling in the heat. She refused to retire, though, and the decider went back and forth.
The two exchanged breaks before Dart moved 5-3 ahead. She then failed to serve out the match, and Badosa broke back to keep it alive. In the next game Dart went 0-40 up on the Spaniard’s serve, and Badosa’s double fault ended it.
“It was an incredible battle,” Dart said on court afterwards. “I thought Paula started really strongly. I was always behind, but I knew going in that it was going to be an incredibly tough match.”
“I really needed to hang in there in the tough moments, and maybe I’d get a chance. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in the business end of a WTA tournament, so I’m very proud of that.”
A week of upsets
This is the second seeded player Dart has beaten this week, and it is the bigger name. She qualified for the main draw and beat fellow qualifier Tatiana Prozorova in the first round. In the second round she knocked out second seed Janice Tjen 6-4 3-6 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes, having led 3-0 in the final set.
Her results in Guangzhou are well above her level for most of the past two years. Dart, currently British number five, has spent long spells in qualifying draws and on the ITF circuit since that run in Cluj. Her few deep runs at WTA level have not come with much consistency.
The Guangzhou run follows a strong few weeks for British women in Asia. Katie Boulter reached the semi-finals of the Japan Open, and Sonay Kartal was runner-up at the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, where she lost to Maja Chwalinska in three sets. A British woman has now reached a WTA semi-final in each of the last two weeks.
For Badosa, the defeat ends a tournament in which she had looked comfortable. She needed only 67 minutes to beat Austria’s Sinja Kraus 6-1 6-4 in the previous round. Her 10 double faults, and the physical problems that needed treatment, decided a match she had led for a set.
What comes next
Dart will play China’s Xinran Sun in Saturday’s semi-finals. Sun will have home support. In the other semi-final, Kaitlin Quevedo plays Lilli Tagger, and the final is on Sunday.
- Semi-final: Harriet Dart (GB) v Xinran Sun (China)
- Semi-final: Kaitlin Quevedo v Lilli Tagger
- Final: Sunday
The draw has opened up, and none of the four remaining players is among the top seeds. Dart has a real chance of reaching the first WTA final of her career.
Whatever happens on Saturday, she will climb the rankings from 115th. With the season nearly over, the ranking points from Guangzhou should help her get into main draws, rather than qualifying, at the start of 2027, including the Australian Open swing. Getting direct entry into the main draw of Grand Slams has been one of her main goals over the past two seasons.
Dart said she had to “hang in there” against Badosa. Against a home player on Saturday, she will need to do so again.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
1088 articles published
