Qualifier Dart wins her first WTA title and becomes Guangzhou’s first British champion
4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 16 minutes: ranked No. 115, the Briton came from a set down to avenge her Fujairah final defeat against the 18-year-old fourth seed.
Harriet Dart, 2026 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
Harriet Dart won the Guangzhou Open on Sunday, beating Lilli Tagger 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 16 minutes. The British qualifier, ranked No. 115, claims her first WTA Tour title in her first final, and becomes the first British player to win the tournament.
Dart converted five of her 11 break points against the fourth seed, who had beaten her 6-4, 6-2 in their only previous meeting, in the final of the W100 event in Fujairah in February.
She is the first qualifier to win in Guangzhou since Li Na at the inaugural edition in 2004, and the third in a row to reach the final, after Caroline Dolehide in 2024 and Lulu Sun in 2025. The best British result had been Laura Robson’s run to the 2012 final.
Dart’s run from qualifying to the Guangzhou title
Dart, 30, spent 9 hours and 27 minutes on court before the final. After coming through qualifying, she beat Tatiana Prozorova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, second seed Janice Tjen 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and fifth seed Paula Badosa 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the semi-finals, she beat 16-year-old wildcard Sun Xinran 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-0.
Her best Tour-level result had been a semi-final in Cluj-Napoca in 2024. Her career-high ranking is No. 70, reached in September 2024.
“I wanted it so much, sometimes too much, but to finally be here, be in the final, means the world,” Dart said after her semi-final.
Tagger’s run ends in the final
Tagger, 18, was chasing a second WTA title after winning in Prague earlier this season. The 2025 Roland-Garros junior champion, ranked No. 53, had won all six of her Tour-level matches this year against players outside the Top 100, and was the first Austrian to reach the Guangzhou final.
She opened her week with a 6-2, 6-2 win over wildcard Venus Williams, then beat Magda Linette 6-2, 6-2, Shi Han 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 and Kaitlin Quevedo 6-2, 6-0.
Guangzhou 2026 final
- Harriet Dart (Q) d. Lilli Tagger (4) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Dart’s path to the title
- First round: d. Tatiana Prozorova (Q) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
- Second round: d. Janice Tjen (2) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
- Quarter-final: d. Paula Badosa (5) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Semi-final: d. Sun Xinran (WC) 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-0
- Final: d. Lilli Tagger (4) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Tagger’s path to the final
- First round: d. Venus Williams (WC) 6-2, 6-2
- Second round: d. Magda Linette 6-2, 6-2
- Quarter-final: d. Shi Han (WC) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
- Semi-final: d. Kaitlin Quevedo 6-2, 6-0
