British singles hopes end at Australian Open as Harriet Dart loses to Halep

The British are going home early again, beaten but mildly encouraged at the end of four days of struggle in singles at the Australian Open, and Harriet Dart at least waved goodbye with a spirited flourish against the former world No1, Simona Halep.

This, nonetheless, is the second year on the spin there will be no British player in either singles draw in the third round. In the decade before 2019, at least one British player – usually Andy Murray – hung around for the first weekend. Dart on Thurday followed Heather Watson, who earlier lost heavily on a tiny outside court to the 16th seed, Elise Mertens, whom she had beaten in the quarter-finals in Hobart only a week ago.

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Halep paid tribute to Dart after winning 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 17 minutes in the evening on Rod Laver Arena. “It was a little bit dangerous,” Halep said of a tight finish in which Dart fought back from 1-4 down to make her sweat at 4-5. “I lost focus and she started to play very well at the end.”

Before stepping on to the tournament’s biggest stage – the scene of her scoreless embarrassment against Maria Sharapova a year ago – Dart said her performance would indicate where her game was heading.

Afterwards, she took no pleasure in being the last British survivor, and said, “All of us expect a lot from ourselves. We are competing in a grand slam. There are no easy matches. We are playing against the highest level players in the world, and it’s incredibly tough. Every match, every opponent is very good. It’s something that is still so new to me, playing all these big tournaments. To keep putting myself in situations where I am playing big players, big moment, that’s a step in the right direction.”

For stretches in the first set and the start of the second, the Londoner hit without rhythm, but nor was she allowed to by an opponent who has travelled a journey that would appeal to her own sense of hard-won spoils. Halep moved steadily then quickly through the rankings from 723 in 2007 to 80 three years later, and on to No1 in 2017. Her unquestionable high point so far – after breaking through to win the French Open in 2018 – arrived last summer when she played as near to perfect as it is possible in this maddening game, hitting Serena Williams off Centre Court in two lightning quick sets in the Wimbledon final.

In her eight years on the Tour, 24-year-old Dart – who regards herself as a late bloomer – has risen from 811 to 121 last year, and campaigned here at 173, winning each of her three qualifying matches in two sets. The form was there, as she showed in beating Misaki Doi in a late-night dogfight in round one, and she now will edge back towards her career-high ranking.

When Halep ended a longish game with a drop shot to break at the start of the second, the finish line looked as if it was about to rush at the British player. Her few successes had been close to the net, and the Romanian pinned her deep with booming forehands to either wing.

Then, in fine British tradition, Dart went down in a fighting fireball of resistance, holding, for only the second time, to love for 1-4, again to stay in town at 2-5 and finally breaking her tormentor for 4-5.

Against all the previous indicators, the ball began to go where Dart intended and she fashioned another break point as Halep wobbled in sight of safety. Dart saved three match points but overcooked her final forehand. Her personal victory was the manner of her leaving – and maybe that she had won two more games and lasted 21 minutes longer than Williams did at Wimbledon.

Halep said of Dart: “She’s definitely top 70, 60 at the moment. She can play a very high level of tennis because she’s very smart. She has a good feeling of the court, also good touching with the racket. I feel she can improve a lot very soon. But the serve, I think it’s important for her to improve because it’s a little bit too slow.”

Watson’s exit was more painful to watch. Nursing a minor abdominal strain, which she will rest at home for a few days, she was disappointed after a good start to the week.

“My level wasn’t there today, my movement,” she said. “I was a millimetre or a second too slow to everything. I was letting her dictate. As the match went on, she played better and was more aggressive. I am just not happy with my performance at all.”