Harriet Dart narrowly misses out on qualification for Wimbledon after three-set thriller
Harriet Dart. Pic: Paolo Minoli - Credit: Archant
West Hampstead’s Harriet Dart narrowly missed out on a place in the main draw at Wimbledon after a marathon three-set thriller in her final qualifying match.
The 19-year-old, who attended Sarum Hall primary school in Swiss Cottage and then the Royal School in Hampstead, is yet to reach the main draw of a senior Grand Slam tournament in her fledgling career.
However, she came agonisingly close today (Friday), losing 2-6, 7-5, 11-13 against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in a match that took over three hours.
Having won her first two qualifying matches against Fangzhou Liu and Risa Ozaki, Dart – who is ranked 448th in the world – faced the No213.
The north Londoner made the perfect start, comfortably winning the first set 6-2, but she was edged out 7-5 in the second to send the match to a decider.
Dart seemed to be in trouble when she trailed 5-3 but fought back valiantly, winning the next three games – and the set then remained on serve, reaching 10-10.
Dart lost her serve to 15 and faced a match point – but again she responded well, winning the next three points to level the scores again.
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Unfortunately, Alexandrova immediately achieved another break, and this time the Russian made it count by holding and winning the match in three hours and eight minutes, securing her place in the first round in SW19.
