Harriet Dart: Wimbledon run means more than anything for me

Harriet Dart is looking to break new ground by reaching the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time after one of the most emotional victories of her career.

The 27-year-old had not beaten her long-time rival Katie Boulter for six years ahead of their second-round clash at Wimbledon on Thursday, which turned into a three-hour melodrama.

Dart led 4-2 in the deciding set but was in tears at the back of the court after trailing 6-2 in the final tie-break before fighting back to triumph.

She reacted with a mixture of delight and disbelief, and afterwards revealed why the win meant so much.

“I think until you’re in the situation, it’s easy to say from the outside how people are,” she said.

“When you’re in the moment and you give everything – and it’s not just about on that court in that moment, it’s everything that goes before the match, months, years of the work that you put in. I just wanted it really, really badly.

“I let things kind of get to me a little bit. I managed to regroup, which was the main thing, just fight my hardest. I was really pleased, as you probably saw at the end, to get away with the win.

“I’ve been ill so much this year or injured. There’s been lots of things that I’ve been just kind of pushing through. You work so hard for a moment like this. To finally be able to get there means so much to me.”

Dart’s only previous appearance in the third round at a grand slam came here five years ago, when she lost to Ashleigh Barty.

This time she appears to have a better chance up against unseeded Chinese player Wang Xinyu, who defeated fifth seed Jessica Pegula in round two.

Dart is ranked 58 places below Wang but did win their only previous match in Australian Open qualifying two years ago.

“She’s a great player,” said Dart. “Hits the ball really flat, low. I’m not surprised she’s doing really well here. She’s been having a phenomenal year.

“She’s been beating some really good players. Jess is an incredible player. She’s also been winning so much on grass. I know that I’m expecting a very tough match. I’m excited for it. It’s another opportunity for me.

“I think for me to be able to make the second week has been a really big goal. I tried not to put too much pressure on it. I wasn’t really expecting too much coming into Wimbledon this year.

“But it means more than anything for me to be sitting here and getting ready to compete in the third round.”

Both Thursday’s British number one versus number two battles went the way of the lower-ranked player, with Cameron Norrie finding his best form for months to see off Jack Draper.

Norrie lost top spot in the domestic rankings to Draper a couple of weeks ago after a difficult run but was delighted with his showing against his younger compatriot and now faces a rematch against fourth seed Alexander Zverev.

The pair met in the fourth round of the Australian Open this year, when Norrie pushed Zverev to a deciding tie-break before losing out in five sets.

“My level’s been really good,” said Norrie. “I’ve been losing a lot of close matches recently, so nice to win one of those, especially in a grand slam.

“I’m building. It doesn’t get any easier. I’m going to have to keep raising my level. I’m looking forward to the match. It’s against another top player. He’s in form. He’s serving well. He likes the grass.

“All the skills that I’ve been practising I can use in this match especially. I played him in Australia. I know what to expect. I’ve never beaten him before so I think it’s a really tough, tough draw for me.”