Tennis: Dart lands dream Sharapova date at Australian Open
Hampstead's Harriet Dart will face Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open (pic John Walton/PA) - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
Hampstead’s Harriet Dart was handed a dream draw against Maria Sharapova after qualifying for a grand slam for the first time at the Australian Open.
Maria Sharapova in action at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships (pic John Walton/PA) - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
The 22-year-old Londoner continued her fine start to the season by recovering from a set down to beat 10th seed Ivana Jorovic 1-6 6-3 6-1, while Dan Evans made it eight British players in the main singles draws with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Paolo Lorenzi.
Dart, who grew up idolising Sharapova, said: “I’m super excited and happy. I’ve been playing good tennis and I’ve put a lot of hard work and effort into all my training, my pre-season, so I knew my level was there, it was just about piecing it all together.
“She came out of the blocks early very good. I managed to stay in there and found a way to win. That’s what I’m really proud of today.”
Dart only made her slam debut as a wild card at Wimbledon last year – taking a set off Karolina Pliskova and reaching the semi-finals of the mixed doubles.
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But for Evans this is familiar territory as the 28-year-old reached the fourth round on his last appearance at Melbourne Park in 2017, but will play in the main draw of a slam for the first time since his 12-month drugs ban.
Evans returned last April at a low-key Challenger in Glasgow and is already back in the world’s top 200, with the carrot of a second-round clash against Roger Federer if he can get past fellow qualifier Tatsuma Ito.
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He said: “I’m happy. Obviously I knew when I got banned I would have to start at not a great tournament and hopefully make my way back up. I’m nowhere near where I want to be yet so it’s just another step in the right direction.”
There was no repeat of the remarkable winner Evans played from behind his back in his second-round win over Jurij Rodionov that has already been hailed as the shot of the year.
He agreed it was the best shot of his career, but added: “It was obviously very lucky. I just stuck my racket out basically and it went in.”
