Harriet Dart is a WTA champion at last. The 30-year-old Briton won the first tour-level singles title of her career on Sunday, coming from a set down to beat 18-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Guangzhou Open in China.

The breakthrough capped what The Guardian called the best week of Dart's career. She arrived in the final as a qualifier — and it was her first WTA final appearance — having saved three match points along the way. Against Tagger, one of the tour's fastest-rising teenagers, Dart absorbed the loss of the opening set before taking control across the final two.

The win is a genuine late-career landmark. Dart had spent years on the fringes of the top 100 without converting deep runs into silverware, and claiming a maiden title at 30 — through qualifying, against a surging young opponent — is the kind of result that can reshape a season.

For Tagger, the defeat still confirms her trajectory: reaching a tour final at 18 and pushing the champion to three sets will do her ranking and reputation no harm.