Heather Watson and Harriet Dart will meet in the Watson Dart US Open qualifier decider after both Britons came through gruelling second-round matches at Flushing Meadows, with six British players overall advancing to the third and final qualifying round in New York.
Watson kept alive her hopes of reaching the US Open main draw by defeating Spain’s Angela Fita Boluda in a match lasting nearly three hours. She was twice a break up in the third set and served for the match, only to be taken to a deciding 10-point tie-break. She held her nerve to seal a 6-4 5-7 7-6 (10-5) win.
According to BBC Sport, Watson has contested the women’s singles main draw at the US Open 10 times but has not qualified since her last appearance in 2021, making Thursday’s final-round clash all the more consequential for the 34-year-old.
Dart ends 19-month Grand Slam wait
Standing between Watson and the main draw is Dart, who earlier produced a 5-7 6-0 6-3 victory over American 16-year-old Kristina Penickova. According to ESPN, the 30-year-old ended a 19-month wait for a Grand Slam win with her second-round success. ESPN also reported that former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who won the SW19 title in 2013, has been working with Dart on an ad-hoc basis since January.
Francesca Jones could also join British number one Katie Boulter in the women’s main draw. Jones beat German Mona Barthel 7-6 (7-3) 1-6 6-2 and will next face Taiwanese player Joanna Garland for a place in the draw.
British men one win from the main draw
In the men’s event, Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken are all one win away from joining Cameron Norrie, Arthur Fery and Jan Choinski in the main draw, which begins on Sunday.
Fearnley, ranked 100th in the world, recovered from a break of serve down to take the opening set against Frenchman Luka Pavlovic and held his nerve in the decider to clinch a 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 win. The 25-year-old will next face Austria’s Jurij Rodionov.
Samuel, bidding to qualify for the US Open for the first time, beat fellow Briton Billy Harris 4-6 6-4 6-1. The 23-year-old, who made his slam debut at this year’s French Open, faces Chile’s former top-20 player Cristian Garin in the final round.
Wendelken, who has never contested the main draw at an overseas major, saved a match point to come through a three-hour tussle with Switzerland’s Remy Bertola. The 24-year-old, ranked 196th, appeared on the brink of elimination at a set and 5-2 down before clinching a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win. He faces Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas next.
Katie Swan and Jack Pinnington Jones missed out. Swan fell to American Mary Stoiana 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3, while Pinnington Jones lost 2-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to Finland’s Otto Virtanen.
Elsewhere in qualifying, former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov, 35, maintained his bid for a 15th US Open men’s singles appearance with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov. He will face Virtanen in the final round. China’s Zheng Qinwen, contesting a Grand Slam qualifying event for the first time since 2022, beat France’s Clara Burel 6-1 7-5 and will next play Russian Elena Pridankina. Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, defeated Ukraine’s Veronika Podre 6-0 6-3 and will aim to secure a first US Open main draw appearance in two years against Slovenian Tamara Zidansek.
Fery, already in the main draw, continued his preparations by reaching the quarter-finals at the Winston-Salem Open. The fourth seed beat Dutch qualifier Mees Rottgering 6-3 6-3 and will face American Aleksandar Kovacevic for a place in the semi-finals. It is only his second event since his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.
