Britain's Harriet Dart claims impressive scalp of Elina Svitolina

Britain’s Harriet Dart claims impressive scalp of Elina Svitolina to make the third round at Indian Wells for the first time but Liam Broady exits after three-set defeat

  • British No 3 Harriet Dart defeated Elina Svitolina 2-6 6-3 6-3 at Indian Wells
  • Ukrainian player won the opening set by breaking Dart on four occasions
  • But Dart recovered brilliantly to break Svitolina three time in the second set
  • Dart, a qualifier for the draw, then closed out the decider 6-3 to progress
  • Britain’s Liam Broady, however, lost in three sets to Miomir Kecmanovic  

Harriet Dart rallied from a set down at Indian Wells to defeat former world No 3 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and progress to the third round for the first time in her career.

The 12th-seeded Ukrainian broke the Briton four times in the opening set at the BNP Paribas Open before Dart steadied herself in the second.

The British No 3, ranked 122nd, managed to break Svitolina three times consecutively to lead 5-3 then smashed a crucial ace to claim the set.

Britain’s Harriet Dart claimed a notable win over Elina Svitolina at the BNP Paribas Open

Dart, a qualifier at the Indian Wells event, impressed as she fought back to win in three sets

A disappointed Svitolina leaves the court after the upset at Indian Wells on Friday night

Dart rushed out to a 3-0 lead in the decider but Svitolina scraped back some points before the match – which took two hours and 17 minutes – finished 2-6 6-3 6-3 in the qualifier’s favour.

Kaia Kanepi will face Dart next after the Estonian needed just 81 minutes to upset 22nd seed Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-3.

Liam Broady, meanwhile, failed to progress past the first round despite taking a set off Miomir Kecmanovic.

Liam Broady exited the tournament following a three-set defeat to Miomir Kecmanovic 

The Serbian has now won both his encounters against Broady following the 6-4 4-6 6-4 encounter in California on Friday.

Earlier, Emma Raducanu progressed with a three-set win over former world No 4 Caroline Garcia and Andy Murray showed all his famed fighting qualities as he shrugged off a nightmare first set to beat Taro Daniel and lift the Scot alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in earning 700 tour-level victories.




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