Britain’s Harriet Dart suffered a heartbreaking Wimbledon third-round exit as she surrendered a one-set lead to lose to China’s Xinyu Wang on Saturday.
Dart, who had rallied to defeat British rival Katie Boulter in the previous round, was beaten 6-2 5-7 3-6 in a match that lasted two hours and 18 minutes having been disrupted by rain delays earlier in the day.
The British No 2 was denied a spot in the fourth round after dropping six straight games in the deciding third set after leading 3-0 at one stage.
“I’m super happy to be in the fourth round,” Wang told the BBC in her on-court interview. “It was really tough today, Harriet was playing really good, her balls are super flat, she was serving good. It was just a really tough battle, I’m just happy.
“I was getting a bit more used to her balls and all the slices. I felt more comfortable each time as the match was going. Now I’m looking forward to my next match.”
World No 100 Dart opened up a 3-1 advantage to begin the match two hours after its scheduled 11am start, before responding emphatically to a Wang break to restore her two-game lead at 4-2.
A forehand winner chalked up the first set after 38 minutes and Dart looked on course for the next round when she held for 4-3 in the second after the pair had traded breaks of serve.
A double fault soon left her staring at a 15-30 deficit, before the Brit buried a smash into the net from deuce as Wang went on to rescue the hold for 5-5 followed by a defining break of serve.
Frustration began to tell for Dart, who had fought through tears to overcome Boulter in a tense tiebreak earlier in the week.
She initially appeared to have recovered well when she raced out to a 3-0 cushion, only for Wang to wrestle the match in her favour by reeling off sixth straight games.
Wang had arrived on the back of defeating America’s Jessica Pegula, making her first win against a top-five opponent.
“Really super happy to be here, I enjoy playing here. I hope to see you guys for my next match and hopefully you cheer more for me next time!”
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Source : Sky Sports
