Harriet Dart is one win of qualifying for the Australian Open but Heather Watson's hopes for another year are over. Dart came through 6-7 (6) 6-1 6-2 after dropping a see-saw first set to Australian teenager Taylah Preston in Melbourne. Dart lost her opening service game to trail 3-0, but broke back to level and took advantage of two double faults to break again for a 5-4 lead - starting a run of four straight breaks up to a tie-break.
The breaks continued throughout the tie-break, the British number four - ranked third in qualifying - saving four set points before going down 9-7. By contrast, Dart lost just four points on her serve as she raced through the second set 6-1, breaking the Australian once more at the start of the deciding set.
She added a second break later in the set as she served out to book her place in the final round of qualifying. Despite taking the first set, Watson went down 6-3 3-6 1-6 to American Varvara Lepchenko. Watson broke the American at the first time of asking to open a 3-0 lead in the first set, only for Lepchenko to level things up after a break of her own.
