Harriet Dart has achieved a new milestone by advancing to her inaugural WTA Tour semi-final at the Transylvania Open.
The third-ranked British player has achieved five consecutive victories in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, after successfully qualifying. She easily beat Spain’s Nuria Párrizas Díaz with a score of 6-3, 6-2.
Dart had previously lost her last four quarter-final matches on British grass courts. However, the 27-year-old is now guaranteed to make a comeback in the top 100 ranking next week. If she continues to advance, she will surpass Jodie Burrage as the second-ranked British player. Despite losing her first service game, Dart dominated the match with a strong mix of aggression and consistency, taking a commanding 4-1 lead. She secured the first set and continued her momentum in the second, quickly gaining a 3-0 lead. Párrizas Díaz’s higher number of errors ultimately led to her downfall.
Dart expressed his enthusiasm for continuing the match. He acknowledged that neither player performed at their best and attributed it to nerves.
“I was pleased with my performance as I put in great effort, remained composed, and successfully won crucial games and moments.”
Emma Raducanu has been granted a wild card entry into the Qatar Open and is set to compete against Anhelina Kalinina in her first round match. The previous US Open winner shared that she had hoped to participate in Doha after her loss to Ons Jabeur during the second round of the WTA Tour event in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Her desire has been fulfilled and the 21-year-old, who has triumphed in three out of six matches since her comeback from an eight-month break, will commence her tournament against Ukraine’s 32nd-ranked player Kalinina at the beginning of next week.
In 2022, they competed on clay courts in Madrid, with Kalinina ultimately triumphing in a tight three-set match. The victor of this upcoming match will face the powerful eighth seed, Jelena Ostapenko, who has already claimed two titles this year.
The Qatar tournament, the first WTA 1000 event of the season – the highest level of the tour – sees both Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff playing for the first time since the Australian Open, but Melbourne champion Aryna Sabalenka is not in the field.
Source: theguardian.com
