Dart looks sharp to reach second round

Harriet Dart surged into the second round of qualifying at the French Open yesterday with an emphatic win over Romanian fifth seed Mihaela Buzarnescu.

The British No 3 won nine straight games and required just 63 minutes to dispatch her opponent–ranked 24 places above her in the world – 6-3, 6-0.

Dart, who needs to win three rounds to reach the main draw of the tournament for the first time, will now face either another Romanian, Irina Bara, or Tereza Mrdeza of Croatia.

Two Britons are in action today with Samantha Murray Sharan facing Australia’s Arina Rodionova, and Liam Broad yin second round action against Holland’s Botic Van De Zandschulp.

At the Hamburg European Open on the men’s tour, third seed Ga el Mon fi ls was knocked out in the first round.

The Frenchman lost 6 -4, 6-3 to 103rd-ranked Yannick Hanfmann of Germany.

Hanfmann needed just an hour and 13 minutes to wrap up the win and the German will next face Chile’s Cristian Garin, who swept past Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-0, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista-agut won 6-4, 6-3 against Georgian Nikol oz Basilashvili. The Argentine will meet Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the second round.

Italy’s Fabio Fognini built up momentum after a slow start to oust Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. The sixthseeded Italian will play either Casper Ruud or Benoit Paire in the next round.