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Harriet Dart’s run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in the quarter-finals with defeat by Anastasia Potapova.
Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court.
The 26-year-old was bidding to reach a first WTA semi-final having lost three previous quarter-finals, all on the British grass, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.
But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.
Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.
It has nevertheless been a strong tournament for Dart to back up last week’s run to the last eight in Nottingham, and she will have another chance to pick up more wins ahead of Wimbledon having been awarded a wild card for next week’s tournament in Eastbourne.
Jelena Ostapenko mounted an impressive comeback
Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.
The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.
Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.
“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.
“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.
“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”
Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.
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