Harriet Dart emerged victorious from a fiercely contested Wimbledon second-round clash with compatriot Katie Boulter on Thursday in a match that pitted Britain’s No. 1- and No. 2-ranked women against each other. Dart’s 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(8) win in a three-set thriller that went to a dramatic 10-point tiebreak, was just her second against British No. 1 Boulter.
The pair, who were born four days apart in 1996, had never previously faced off at a major, and Boulter had never before been beaten by a fellow Brit. The Billie Jean Cup teammates wrestled for control of the match in the opening games as both surrendered opportunities to convert break points. However, a crucial missed backhand from Dart in the fifth gave Boulter a 3-2 advantage that she converted into a set lead via her impressive service game. But Dart came roaring back in the second, taking just 17 minutes to go 4-0 up, allowing a solitary game to slip before taking the match to a deciding third set.
Victory and Emotions
A marathon fifth game in which Dart converted break point at the sixth time of asking seemed as if it would prove decisive, but Boulter rediscovered her form at the vital moment, breaking back in the eighth to level the scores at 4-4. It was a sequence that brought on tears of frustration from her exasperated opponent. There was still nothing to separate the players after 12 games in the third set and almost three hours‘ worth of play on No. 1 Court, resulting in a 10-point tiebreak that Dart edged 10-8 to move into the third round and into the top 80 of the world rankings for the first time.
„I wear my emotions on my sleeve so you see everything how I’m thinking, unfortunately, but I’m so happy to be able to get through,“ Dart said.
Meanwhile on Centre Court, wild card Jacob Fearnley put up a brave fight but was eventually outclassed by seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Djokovic, who has made a miraculous recovery from knee surgery to play at Wimbledon, was made to work for his spot in the third round by the 22-year-old Brit who produced the best performance of his career despite the defeat.
Earlier on Thursday, Lily Miyazaki’s singles campaign ended in the second round as she was thrashed 6-0, 6-0 by Russia’s Daria Kasatkina on Court 18. Fourteenth seed Kasatkina, winner of last week’s Eastbourne title, was in a merciless mood as she dispatched Miyazaki in less than an hour.
