Harriet Dart edges closer to Australian Open qualification but Heather Watson hopes end Harriet Dart is one win of qualifying for the Australian Open but Heather Watson's hopes for another year are over.
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.
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.
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.
