Former Wimbledon champion and Sky Sports analyst Marion Bartoli admitted that Harriet Dart had “overstepped” when the Brit won her first WTA title at the Guangzhou Open in China at the weekend.
Playing in his first tour-level final, Dart won a thrilling match Austrian 18-year-old Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-3 6-4.
The 30-year-old from Hampstead is back in the top 100 of the WTA rankings and has the chance to automatically qualify for the main draw of the Australian Open, which runs from January 11-31.
Bartoli, who has been working with Dart on a part-time basis since the start of the year, discussed his coaching philosophy and why he thinks it’s only a matter of time before the Briton goes on and makes his mark.
talking to Sky SportsThe 2013 Wimbledon winner said: “I thought Harriet could do really well after the US Open because everything we’ve been working on in her game has come to life more and more.
“Now if I tell you that he can win the title, that wasn’t my obsession. For me, as a coach, that’s not how I work. Everything has to follow a certain process of improvement. Once those improvements are made, the results start coming. That’s my whole philosophy behind my coaching system.
“We had a really strong week of training in Dubai and when I hugged him at the end of his last training session with me before going to Osaka, I said to him: ‘You are playing amazing tennis, believe in yourself and keep fighting!’
“He did just that and more.”
How Bartoli started working with Dart
Bartoli began to analyze Dart’s game with the Briton, who was outside the top 160 at the time.
“When he contacted me earlier this year to start working with me, I knew exactly what I wanted him to change and improve. The problem we both face is that we don’t have enough time together to work on his game,” said the former French Open semifinalist and world No. 7.
“We only started doing it properly when she was in Florida before Cincinnati, and since then it’s been incredibly satisfying to see how quickly Harriet has improved, taken things on board, fully committed to them and applied them in matches.
“Seeing him now regularly hitting a few aces per match, going forward, taking the ball early and getting into open positions and filling the net more often.
“He won the Guangzhou tournament with a service winner…that’s saying a lot!”
Dart has won 19 of her 24 tour-level matches on hard courts since Bartoli, a Billie Jean King Cup regular at Wimbledon who admits she’s always pushed herself.
“Once you trust him, he learns incredibly fast,” Bartoli said. “It’s never a problem to explain my theories and thoughts behind the change I’m asking him to make.
“He is extremely coachable and more importantly he always gives 100 percent in practice, which is a great quality for me.
“I pushed him beyond his limits in practice, but he pushed himself beyond his limits.”
The future is bright under Bartoli’s tutelage
Bartoli won Wimbledon in 2013
Bartoli felt an emotional release on Sunday and with Dart, the Frenchwoman, now world No.83 and British No.3, is sure there is more to come.
“I’m incredibly proud of him after his win,” Bartoli said. “The week he’s had, the number of matches he’s had to win in three sets, is a real testament to his ruthlessness.
“I cried when he won the service winner because I know how much time we spent on that shot and for him to finish a match like that says a lot.
“The future is really bright for Harriet. We’re just getting started because there’s still so much I want to add to her game.
“He could absolutely be in the top 30.”
It’s been a successful time for the British women’s tennis player, with Sonay Kartal reaching the final of the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, Katie Boulter reaching the semi-finals of the WTA 250 event in Osaka and now Darts sealing her first title at the WTA 250 level.
Teenager Hannah Klugman also won the biggest title of her career at the Wrexham Open – a W100 event on the second-tier Challenger tour.
NOW streaming tennis without a contract and the Sky Sports App. You can watch the ATP Paris Masters live on Sky Sports this week.