Dumped Dart’s loving singles
She lost her doubles partner but young Brit wins spot in third round MIKE DICKSON
She was ditched by her mixed doubles partner, Jay Clarke, but it has still turned out to be a decent week for harriet Dart. She now faces top seed and French Open champion Ash Barty, having already earned £111,000 for making the last 32. Yesterday Dart beat Brazil’s Beatriz haddad Maia 7-6, 3-6, 6-1.
She may have been unceremoniously dumped by her mixed doubles partner, but it has still turned out to be a spectacular week for harriet Dart. The 22-year-old from hampstead is into the third round of the singles — making up for the disappointment of not even making it into the draw for the mixed after Jay Clarke made a last-minute switch to American sensation Coco Gauff.
Dart will now face top seed and French Open champion Ash Barty, having already pocketed £111,000 for making the last 32.
It is considerably more than anything that could have come her way in the secondary doubles event.
Dart battled her way past Brazil’s Beatriz haddad Maia 7-6, 3-6, 6-1, impressively putting any distractions to one side to become the first Brit to make it through to the weekend.
She has become accustomed to distractions, with the Duchess of Cambridge having caused quite a
kerfuffle when she came on to her outside court to watch a few games of her first round.
Dart’s game is based on a stiff defence of her baseline and she showed similar determination afterwards in not being drawn on the doubles shenanigans of earlier in the week.
‘That’s in the past, I’ve just got to look forward, concentrating on my singles,’ she said. ‘Things happen. A lot of things are out of my control. I was just focusing on playing my singles.
‘I had a really good run in mixed doubles last year. You share that moment with someone whereas now I’m alone on the court, but you share it with your team.’
Dart, whose mother Susie is a former Middlesex captain and member of the All england Club, played a lot at SW19 as a junior and looked very much at home.
She will reinvest most of her windfall back into her tennis, but has also spotted a treat to reward herself with.
‘I was having an ice bath and I think one of the players — or support team of another player — had a Celine bag. I really liked it. I really quite want one,’ she said.
The winnings are a huge amount for someone ranked 182 in the world and a turnaround from her last Grand Slam appearance.
That was at the Australian Open where she came through qualifying to meet Maria Sharapova in the first round proper.
The Russian sent her on her way with a 6-0, 6-0 defeat.
Weaker spirits might have been crushed by that, so this is a particularly good showing and she will need to be resolute again in the next round as Barty is sure to get on to her serve, which is easily the weakest part of her game.
It was an undulating affair yesterday on the impressively expanded outside Court 12, that lasted two hours 25 minutes. This included a break for Dart to get her ankle strapped after the second set and more time out for the Brazilian to get treatment on her side early in the third.
haddad Maia’s movement became more laboured towards the end but by then Dart had banked the first set. She edged it 7-4 in the tiebreak, having failed to serve out when she was 5-4 up in games. Dart had begun to stray far from the bullseye towards the end of the second set but made sure she worked her opponent around the court in the third to exploit her discomfort.
Barty, looking seriously formidable by winning in less than an hour, will probably put an end to what has been a memorable week for Dart in all sorts of ways.