British No 1 Katie Boulter is knocked OUT of Wimbledon by No 2 Harriet Dart, who was in tears when she thought she would lose before remarkable turnaround
- Dart has won two of eight career meetings with Billie Jean King Cup teammate
Harriet Dart defeated Katie Boulter in a thrilling three-set match that ended in a 10-8 third-set tiebreak, just weeks after the British No. 1 had knocked her out of contention in their meeting in Eastbourne.
Dart thought she was going to be eliminated from the competition with a 6-2 deficit in the tiebreaker and she wiped away tears as she tried to gather herself.
Despite initial disappointments, the 27-year-old held her nerve against the No. 32 seed to record only the second victory in their eight career meetings.
“I wear my emotions on my sleeve, so you see everything,” Dart said in her on-court interview Thursday afternoon. “But thank you so much for the support, it’s been so amazing.”
Boulter had plenty of praise for her opponent in the build-up to Thursday’s match on Court 1, saying grass was her “favourite surface” and the All England Club her “home club”.
Harriet Dart has won her second match in eight meetings with British number 1 Katie Boulter
The British number 2 had to battle with her opponent on court number 1 for three hours on Thursday
The Nottingham Open winner was more striking in the first set, winning her first break 2-2. She then won the first set 6-4, ahead of her friend Alex De Minaur, who had beaten Jaume Munar earlier that day and had been in the stands for the last two games.
Dart recovered well in the second set and the British No. 2 was on a roll after an aggressive break in the second game, with Boulter managing just one point.
The British No. 1 made a whopping 75 unforced errors, while Dart concentrated on 35. And in the tiebreak, the lower-ranked player’s determination came into its own.
After Dart was on the verge of collapse, he took the next four points before a lacklustre forward line knocked Boulter out of a third-round spot.
The couple embraced in front of their home crowd, moments after a thrilling tiebreak
Dart and Boulter were accused of not exactly having a warm relationship on the field and at the end of the three-hour match they were seen embracing warmly.
“My head-to-head matches with Katie Boulter were absolutely terrible so I didn’t have too high expectations but I just gave it my best shot,” Dart said in her on-court interview.
‘Even though I was behind in the tiebreak, I thought: I have to give everything, I have no regrets and I am very happy that I was able to push through.’
“I haven’t played on Court One since I played mixed doubles here a few years ago, so it’s so nice to get my first big win on a really big stadium court in front of a home crowd. It’s absolutely surreal.”