How Dart revived career with help of Wimbledon champion
Harriet Dart won her first WTA title at the Guangzhou Open, beating Austrian teenager Lilli Tagger in the final. The victory marks a turnaround for the 30-year-old Briton, who had spent much of the past two seasons outside the world’s top 100, and she says working with former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has strengthened her belief.
Dart began working with Bartoli part-time at the start of the season, after falling outside the top 160. Since Wimbledon, she has won 19 of 24 tour-level matches on hard courts and is projected to climb from 115th to 83rd in the rankings; her season record is 23 wins from 34 matches. British team captain Anne Keothavong said Dart’s work ethic was already strong and that her confidence had grown.
In short
- Harriet Dart claimed her first WTA title in Guangzhou.
- Part-time coaching from Marion Bartoli has helped build her confidence.
- Dart is projected to rise from 115th to 83rd in the rankings.
Explained simply
Harriet Dart is a British tennis player who competes on the professional women’s tour. Players’ world rankings reflect their results over time, and falling down the rankings can make it harder to enter major tournaments directly.
Marion Bartoli, who won Wimbledon in 2013, has worked with Dart part-time since the start of the season. Anne Keothavong is Britain’s team captain and has followed Dart’s progress. Their roles help explain the attention on the support around Dart as well as her results.
A first WTA title is a significant milestone: WTA tournaments award ranking points and bring together players competing at different levels of the tour. Dart’s career progress matters to British tennis, where she is one of the players representing the country in international competition.
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