Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Dart hits the bullseye with Sharapova draw
HARRIET Dart has earned a dream draw against Maria Sharapova after qualifying for a grand slam for the first time at the Australian Open.
The Londoner, 22, continued her fine start to the season by recovering from a set down to beat tenth seed Ivana Jorovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, while Dan Evans made it eight British players in the main singles draws with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Paolo Lorenzi.
Dart, who grew up idolising Sharapova, said: “I’m super-excited and happy. I’ve been playing good tennis and I’ve put a lot of hard work and effort into all my training, my pre-season, so I knew my level was there, it was just about piecing it all together. She came out of the blocks very well. I managed to stay in there and found a way to win. That’s what I’m really proud of today.”
Dart only made her slam debut as a wild card at Wimbledon last year – taking a set off Karolina Pliskova – but for Evans this is familiar ground.
The 28-year-old reached the fourth round on his last appearance at Mel- bourne Park in 2017, but will play in the main draw of a slam for the first time since his 12-month drugs ban.
He returned last April at a low-key Challenger in Glasgow and is already back in the world’s top 200, with the carrot of a second-round clash against Roger Federer if he can get past fellow qualifier Tatsuma Ito.
Evans said: “I’m happy. Obviously I knew when I got banned I would have to start at not a great tournament and hopefully make my way back up.
“I’m nowhere near where I want to be yet, so it’s just another step in the right direction.”
Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie defeated Jan-Lennard Struff to reach his first ATP Tour final at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The 23-year-old, who grew up in New Zealand, had lost his previous three main tour semi-finals, but recovered from losing the second set to beat his opponent 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
His ranking is projected to rise from 93 to 68 and will go even higher if he can beat American Tennys Sandgren in the final before heading to the Australian Open.
Norrie said afterwards: “It’s so special. It’s my first final and to do it at home, too, it means so much.”