Harriet Dart ends 19-month wait for Grand Slam win at US Open
Harriet Dart beat Peyton Stearns in the first round of the US Open on Monday, coming from a set down to win 3-6 6-3 6-2 and end a 19-month wait for a Grand Slam singles victory. The win sent Dart into the tournament's second round.
The 30-year-old reached the US Open second round for the third time, having previously done so in 2022 and 2024. Dart is ranked world number 131 and had not won a main-draw singles match at a major since reaching the second round of the 2025 Australian Open. She failed to qualify for four of the next six Grand Slams after that and was beaten in the first round of the past two Wimbledons despite receiving wildcards on each occasion.
Dart had been taken to three sets in all three of her US Open qualifying matches, including dropping the opening set against Kristina Penickova and Heather Watson. That pattern continued in the main draw as she again had to fight through a three-set contest to advance. The qualifying sequence set the scene for a gritty opening-round performance in the event.
Against Stearns, Dart fell a set and a break behind early before mounting her comeback; Stearns is ranked more than 75 places above her. Dart could not convert any of her four break points in the opening game and Stearns did not offer another break opportunity in the first set, eventually breaking Dart in the eighth game to take the opener.
Dart was broken for a second time in the opening game of the second set but recovered as Stearns grew increasingly erratic. Stearns produced 40 winners but also committed 47 unforced errors, and Dart secured two breaks of serve in the second set to force a decider.
Dart seized control midway through the third set, holding in the sixth game to end a sequence of three consecutive breaks before converting her fourth match point. The Briton sealed the victory in a little under two and a half hours and immediately ran to celebrate with her team, which now includes 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli.
Bartoli linked up with Dart before this year's French Open, and the US Open win follows Dart's quarter-final run at a Challenger tournament in Vancouver in July and her qualification for the Cincinnati Open in August. "She's a Grand Slam champion, so I can speak to her about her experiences, the way she sees the game and the way she sees my game," Dart told BBC Radio 5 during qualifying. "Her tennis IQ – and her IQ generally – is insane. "It's just about trying to grow and improve everything I can. I was really pleased she was able to come on board and grateful she's here for me."
Dart will face 25th seed Marie Bouzkova in the second round and joins compatriots Toby Samuel and Katie Boulter in the tournament's last 64.