Harriet Dart reaches first WTA Tour singles final in Guangzhou
On 31 October 2026, Briton Harriet Dart reached her first WTA Tour singles final when she beat Chinese wildcard Sun Xinran 5-7 7-6 (6-1) 6-0 at the Guangzhou Open in just under two and a half hours.
Dart had previously reached six WTA Tour-level doubles finals, winning two titles, and made her WTA Tour debut in Eastbourne in 2015. This was only her second tour-level singles semi-final after reaching the last four at the 2024 Transylvania Open, and she enters the final as the British number five.
Sun, the reigning US Open junior champion, 16, took the first set after Dart trailed 3-0 following a double fault on break point in her opening service game. Dart recovered to lead 5-4 by dictating baseline rallies during a sequence of four consecutive service holds, but she hit two further double faults while serving for the set and Sun held to 15 before breaking for a third time to clinch the opener.
Dart twice broke in the second set, in the first and fifth games, only to be immediately broken back on each occasion. She was twice required to serve to stay in the match and saved multiple match points before dominating the tie-break 7-1, at one point silencing the crowd she had repeatedly complained to the chair umpire about.
With Sun struggling both emotionally and physically and receiving a medical timeout for treatment on her left leg, Dart ran through the final set without conceding a game. She won 28 of the 41 points in the decider to complete the 5-7 7-6 (6-1) 6-0 victory.
A tearful Dart said "It's been a really long journey. I've wanted it so much, so badly - sometimes too much. To finally be here means the world." She added, "I found it tough out there. It was a rollercoaster. Playing in this part of the competition, more nerves and more feelings come out. I was really battling with myself." and said, "I'm proud of the second set and was able to turn it quickly."
Dart will meet fourth seed Lilli Tagger or Kaitlin Quevedo in Sunday's final, and victory will secure her return to the top 100 in the WTA rankings; she has already climbed 14 places to 101st in the live standings.
