BRIT WATCH: Harriet Dart is swept aside on Rod Laver Arena by Polish star Iga Swiatek as she crashed out 6-3, 6-0 to No 7 seed at the Australian Open
- Harriet Dart crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday
- The British qualifier had started well, racing into a 3-1 lead on Rod Laver Arena
- However, Polish No 7 seed Iga Swiatek went on to win the next 11 games
- It is a busy day for th Brits Down Under, with no fewer than six in action
Iga Swiatek won 11 games in a row to defeat Britain’s Harriet Dart in the first round of the Australian Open.
Dart came through qualifying for the third time here in four years, and for the third time found herself on Rod Laver Arena facing one of the big names.
She suffered the dreaded double bagel against Maria Sharapova in 2019 before a much better performance against Simona Halep the following year.
Harriet Dart was beaten in the first round of the Australian Open by No 7 seed Iga Swiatek
The Polish star won 11 consecutive games to seal victory on the Rod Laver Arena
Dart, ranked 123, made a good start against seventh seed Swiatek, leading 3-1, but the Pole began to cut out the errors and, despite not doing too much wrong in the second set, the British number three failed to win another game.
‘First rounds are always tricky and with the sun out on the other side it was pretty hard to serve,’ Swiatek said afterwards.
‘I told myself to be patient. I had this faith in myself that I would find a rhythm somehow.
‘It is hard to achieve perfection and there is going to be mistakes like today at the beginning of the match.
‘Normally I get really angry about that but now I’m focused on finding solutions and working on technical stuff.’
Dart (left) was on the main arena for the third time in recent years, but it was a similar story
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