Yuan takes flight, beats Dart to W100 Takasaki title

Yuan Yue won the biggest title of her career on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W100 Takasaki on Sunday.

The 25-year-old from China defeated Britain’s Harriet Dart 5-7 7-5 6-0 to win the first of back-to-back W100 events in the city.

It was her first title since she won at W60 Las Vegas 13 months ago, and her fifth ITF singles title overall.

Yuan, who reached her first WTA final at the Korea Open in Seoul (falling to Jessica Pegula) and also finished runner-up at W100 Shenzhen last month, could celebrate her biggest triumph yet.

She climbs to No. 87 in the WTA rankings – just 13 spots off the career-high she managed in November last year.

For Dart, it was her first appearance in a ITF W100 final and perhaps a missed opportunity for a significant professional title.

The 27-year-old Brit is a former world No. 84 but has never won a tournament above ITF W25 level, with the most recent of her five ITF singles wins coming at W25 Nottingham this year.

Elsewhere, Oceane Dodin collected her fifth ITF World Tennis Tour title of the year – just one fewer than 2023 Tour-leader Brenda Fruhvirtova - after triumphing at W40 Petange.

Dodin, who had won W60 Nantes the previous week, recorded her 10th consecutive match-win with victory over Alexandra Eala in Sunday's final. 

Despite her defeat, Eala could celebrate reaching her first W40 final - another step forward in her promising early career. Discover more about Eala in this behind-the-scenes 'Day in the life' video here.

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