Harriet Dart produced a landmark victory against her British rival Katie Boulter, winning 4-6 6-1 7-6 (10-8) to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the second time in her career.
Dart was in tears at the back of the court when she trailed 6-2 in the deciding tie-break but she clawed her way back to win 4-6 6-1 7-6 (10-8) after two hours and 56 minutes of tension on Court One.
It was a thoroughly merited win for Dart and one of the biggest of her career. The 27-year-old will now meet China’s Wang Xinyu, who upset fifth seed Jessica Pegula, in the last 32.
“It was always going to be a really tough battle, I wear my emotions on my sleeve so you see everything I’m thinking unfortunately. I’m happy to get through, thanks so much for the support,” said Dart.
“Even though I was down in that tie-break I thought ‘give it everything you’ve got, have no regrets’ and I was able to battle through.
“I haven’t played on Court No 1 since I played mixed doubles here so it’s nice to get my first big win in front of the crowd.”
There has been tension between Boulter and Dart after recent matches between them but here they shared a hug at the net in recognition of the tightest of struggles.
The result will be hugely disappointing, though, for British No 1 Boulter, who made 75 unforced errors and struggled to find any rhythm throughout.
It was already guaranteed that Britain would have three women in the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in 40 years, with the winner joining Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal.
Boulter had reason to feel confident that would be her given her brilliant form over the last 13 months and six wins from seven previous matches against Dart.
But the last of those was a very tight three-setter in Nottingham last month and it was clear from the start that both players had carried an awful lot of nerves onto Court One with them.
Boulter held her nerve just a little bit better in the opening set, saving three break points in a long fourth game before taking her opportunity in the next one.
Dart was not helped by seven double faults but there were a lot of errors from both women.
Boulter completely lost her way at the start of the second set, spraying the ball all over the place and failing to hold serve once, while Dart had settled into some sort of rhythm.
Boulter, who hit three winners in the second set compared with 16 unforced errors, headed off court for a bathroom break and improved at the start of the decider.
Things might have been different had she converted any of three break points at 2-1 but Dart held on and then finally took her sixth opportunity in a rollercoaster fourth game.
It was more than six years since Dart last beat Boulter but she was able to absorb her rival’s power while mixing up her tactics, while Boulter was still sending too many shots flying over the baseline.
Boulter coughed up another break point at 2-4 but the 32nd seed eventually held and then took advantage of Dart’s big weakness, her slow second serve, to get back on level terms.
Dart continued to look the better player, seeing another break point come and go – she took just four of 18 during the match – but Boulter forced a deciding tie-break.
Dart was looking increasingly frustrated and emotional, and she was in tears at the back of the court when Boulter opened up a 6-2 lead.
Dart (right) hugs Boulter at the end of their epic clash
But her despair was premature because Boulter lost her timing again and Dart restored parity before dropping her racket to the turf in disbelief when a final return from Boulter sailed long.
“I just had a tough day at the office,” said Boulter. “Not my best tennis today unfortunately. But it’s what happens sometimes. I’ve just got to take it on the chin. She played well. It is what it is.”
The 27-year-old sought comfort from boyfriend Alex De Minaur, who rushed from winning his own second-round match to support her, but admitted this loss will stick with her.
“One match doesn’t define my career,” she said. “That’s the first thing he said to me when I got off the court. He knows what he’s talking about. It’s not his first rodeo. He’s been through it all before. I’m lucky to have that support.
“I don’t feel like anything was a massive opportunity. This time next year I’m going to be a better player. It might be because of today, and I’m going to use that tough moment out there to really spur me on for the next few months.”
Tale of the Tape
Miyazaki suffers dreaded double bagel
Lily Miyazaki suffered a whitewash defeat to Daria Kasatkina (right)
Wild card Lily Miyazaki won only 19 points as she suffered a rapid straight-sets defeat to world No 12 Daria Kasatkina at the start of a colossal day of British tennis at Wimbledon.
The Tokyo-born player had already more than doubled her prize money for the year after earning £93,000 by breezing past German Tamara Korpatsch to reach the second round of the Championships for the first time.
But Eastbourne champion Kasatkina proved a step too far and cruised to a crushing 6-0 6-0 success in 50 minutes.
World No 148 Miyazaki was made to wait for her latest moment in the spotlight after wet weather on Wednesday contributed in pushing the match back a day.
A landmark victory always looked a big ask for the 28-year-old and she nervously began with a double-fault en route to losing the opening 10 points.
She was quickly staring down the barrel of a swift exit and, despite going 30-0 up on Kasatkina’s serve at 5-0 down, surrendered the opening set to her Russian opponent inside 20 minutes.
Kasatkina underlined her grass-court credentials with last week’s title success in Eastbourne
Kasatkina, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2018, underlined her grass-court credentials with last week’s title success at the Rothesay International at Devonshire Park.
The 27-year-old showed little sign of easing up and ruthlessly continued her march towards round three with a dominant display.
Miyazaki finally earned an opportunity to avoid a double bagel at advantage in game three of the second set but eventually lost it with another double fault as a one-sided contest slipped away.
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