Britain’s Harriet Dart causes upset beating World No.9 Daria Kasatkina at the US Open

Harriet Dart toiled in the fearsome late afternoon heat of the US Open and survived it to claim the best win of her career last night.

Reaching deep within herself, the 26 year-old Londoner knocked out world number nine Daria Kasatkina 7-6 1-6 6-3 to make the second round for the first time.

In steaming heat and humidity the Russian was the one to wilt first, needing to vomit after coming back to level the match in the second set.

Harriet Dart (pictured) is in to the next round of the US Open after beating Daria Kasatkina

She led 3-2 with a break in the decider but Dart, ranked 88, reeled off the last four games. With double faults and unforced increasingly being donated, she held her nerve to serve the match out.

Dart, who edged the tiebreak 10-8, will now meet Dalma Galfi of Hungary. A victory would see her equalling her best performance at a Major, the third round at Wimbledon 2019.

This is the latest step up in a year of steady progression for the GB number two, who could even end up usurping Emma Raducanu, where she to lose her first round tonight.

Kasatkina was the 10th seed in the US Open going into the match against Britain’s Dart

Jack Draper was trying to join Dart and Andy Murray in the second round last night, but Kyle Edmund was powerless to stop the men’s number five seed Casper Ruud.

Entering via an injury protected ranking, the former world number 14 from Yorkshire was beaten in the first round, entirely expectedly, 6-3 7-5 6-2.

This was his first singles appearance at a Major for two years after three knee operations, and there were some encouraging signs.

Kyle Edmund was beaten in straight sets by the men’s number five seed Casper Ruud

His trademark booming forehand caused the Norwegian French Open finalist problems on occasion, and the scoreline slightly flattered the obvious favourite.

Dart had contributed to the usual chaos in the women’s draw, which seemed to be off to an early start when one of the favourites, former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, was knocked out.

There were emotional scenes in the Louis Armstrong Stadium after the Romanian was defeated 6-2 0-6 6-4 by Daria Snigur of Ukraine.

Daria Snigur (pictured) of Ukraine also caused an upset as she beat Romanian Simona Halep

The 20 year-old qualifier, who had never played in a Grand Slam main draw before, immediately burst into tears after clinching match point and clutched the ribbon on her chest of her country’s colours.

Ranked 124 in the world, Snigur had her training base in Kyiv bombed earlier this year and played in the Ukraine fundraiser at Flushing Meadows last week.