Harriet Dart credits Marion Bartoli after winning Guangzhou Open
Harriet Dart, the world number 115, beat Lilli Tagger to win the Guangzhou Open in China on Sunday, claiming her first WTA title and attributing her resurgence to part-time coach Marion Bartoli, who watched the final from home.
In the hour after the victory Dart said she had little time to respond to congratulations and first phoned her parents, Nick and Susie, who had been watching the final with friends at their local tennis club in north London, and her sister Phoebe, before calling Bartoli. "It's been quite incredible to work with Marion, and I was really fortunate she was open to working with me," Dart told BBC Sport in a video call from Guangzhou. "I'm obviously at a very different stage of my career to someone who is, say, 20. But I still feel I have a lot to improve and there are gains to be made."
Dart has been coached by the French former world number seven since the start of the season on a part-time basis; the pair live close to each other in Dubai and put in training blocks there when Dart is not on the road. They have not travelled full-time together, but have worked together on the ground during Grand Slam tournaments, and Dart said the 42-year-old still hits the ball "really well" in practice. In Guangzhou Dart was accompanied by her fitness trainer Dario Gonfiantini and her boyfriend Stephen Falck, while Bartoli provided observational notes when she could not attend.
The title will lift Dart's ranking: she is projected to rise to 83rd on Monday after lifting the Guangzhou trophy. Since Wimbledon Dart has won 19 of her 24 tour-level matches on hard courts and her overall WTA Tour record for the season stands at 23 victories from 34 matches, the highest winning percentage of her career.
Dart reached a career-high of 70th in the world in 2024 after reaching the Wimbledon third round and the US Open second round, but she has spent most of the past two seasons outside the top 100. Observers had pointed to a slow second serve that tended to produce double faults and to questions about her on-court mentality in pressure moments; in Guangzhou she produced a series of wins in which she had to fight back from behind.
Dart highlighted the personal and professional support she has received from Bartoli: "She really believes in me - that means the world to me. Seeing a Grand Slam champion having that belief has made me believe a lot more in myself." She added: "More than anything, Marion is just a great person. She cares about me as a person first and foremost, as well as improving me as a tennis player, of course. It's been invaluable and amazing for her to share her experiences to make me better. I've learned a lot from her and look forward to continuing to learn more." Bartoli, 42, has coached several WTA players since retiring, including 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Britain's women's team captain Anne Keothavong said Dart had always worked hard and now showed "more belief and confidence" and that she was "in a very good place." Keothavong named Dart in her squad for September's Billie Jean King Cup Finals but did not select her to play in the tie, while noting she was impressed by Dart's ball-striking in practice. Keothavong also pointed to recent British results in the Asian hard-court swing: Sonay Kartal reached the final in Wuhan, Katie Boulter made the semi-finals in Osaka, Dart won a WTA 250 event in Guangzhou, and Hannah Klugman won the Wrexham Open, a W100 on the Challenger tour. "The way they're all performing towards the end of the season - at whatever level - has been impressive," Keothavong said. "It's not easy at this time of the season because there has been a lot of tennis played, but they've all capitalised and risen to the occasion. It's great reward for all their hard work and is encouraging for British tennis."
Dart said of her partnership with Bartoli: "I hope we will be able to spend more weeks together next year."
