Mum knows best: Dart reaches career high with familiar stand-in coach

Harriet Dart has her mother and temporary coach Susie to thank after a comfortable first-round victory at the US Open secured a personal best in the world rankings.
The British No3 eased into the second round at Flushing Meadows with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Chloé Paquet, the world No97 from France. It puts her at a projected ranking of No66, beating her present career high of No75.
Susie, who was proudly watching on from the sidelines, has had a bigger role than usual to play here. Dart’s coach Olga Morozova, the runner-up at Wimbledon and the French Open in 1974, restricts her travel on the tour at the age of 75, giving Susie the chance in the past couple of weeks to step up as an assistant for her daughter on the practice court.
As Susie is a former Middlesex county player who now plays regularly as a member at the All England Club, she is more than capable of feeding balls during Dart’s practice drills. Crucially, she also provides comforting support and company for her daughter on the road.
“It’s a different dynamic, that’s for sure,” Dart said. “We’ve only had one argument [in the past two weeks] so that’s good. It’s just little things and I think it’s easier when it’s your mum because two minutes later you’re all fine.
“It’s been nice to have her, she knows me really well. She can hit with me a little bit and she’s played so she understands a lot of things. She says her role is feeding balls and throwing me balls, but there’s much more to it than that. She’s been helping me a lot.”
Dart, 28, now bids to reach the third round here for the first time when she plays Marta Kostyuk, the world No19 from Ukraine, on Wednesday. A win to set up another match on Friday could cause logistical issues, however, as Susie is due to return to London on the same day for her regular job as a teacher before the new term next week.
“She’s due to go back Friday, but we’ll see,” Dart said. “We’ll come to that when we need to.”
Jan Choinski is already heading back across the Atlantic after a gruelling five-set loss. The world No276 did well to come through qualifying last week but left himself with too much work to do at two sets down against Roberto Carballés Baena, the world No55 from Spain. Despite fighting back to force a decider, Choinski lost 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 in four hours and 31 minutes.
Choinski, who switched nationality from Germany in 2018 through his Southampton-born mother, will rue the five break points he failed to take in the opening game of the fifth set as he sought his first main-draw win at an overseas grand-slam event. At least he has the consolation of a projected rankings rise to No229 after picking up points for his three wins in qualifying.
After a summer of struggles the relief was evident for Coco Gauff as she made a comfortable start to the defence of her US Open title with the inspirational help of a message from a fan on social media.
Out of form and short of confidence, the 20-year-old arrived in New York with low expectations for the fortnight ahead. A fourth-round exit at Wimbledon and a third-round loss at the Paris Olympics were followed by a disappointing return of one win in three matches during the American hard-court swing.
While many athletes prefer not to read the comments on their social media posts because of the inevitable negativity from some quarters, Gauff is glad she had a look during a break from her preparations here last week. It proved the catalyst for a turnaround in form as she eased to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Varvara Gracheva, the world No 66 from France, in only 66 minutes.
“Someone commented on my TikTok saying you’ve won in life, literally and figuratively, and there’s no point in piling pressure on yourself on a victory lap,” Gauff said afterwards. “I’m just treating this tournament like that and if you defend something, that means you won something. If you did it that means you can do it again, so whether I do it again this year or not, I am going to do it again, whether it’s 2024 or not.
“There’s definitely a lot of pressure at this tournament but I’m just enjoying it. Last year was incredible so I’m just bringing those vibes. Whatever ­happens, happens.”
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There will be tougher tests to come, of course, but Gauff should be satisfied with the way in which she overcame some early nerves. The world No 3 saved six break points in her first three service games before going on to win nine consecutive games for the match.
“I am just happy to be back on this court and playing like I did,” Gauff said. “I know the last few weeks have been a little bit tough and I think this has been the best tennis I have played in a while.”
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Dominic Thiem was given a fond farewell at Arthur Ashe Stadium after his final grand-slam match. After being refused a wild card at the French Open and Wimbledon, the 30-year-old Austrian received an invitation to the US Open as the 2020 champion. His participation did not last long as he was comfortably defeated 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 by the American Ben Shelton, but he deservedly received the acclaim of the crowd during a post-match presentation.
Thiem, who reached a career-high world ranking of No 3, had his career derailed by persistent wrist problems. Now ranked No 210, he will make his final appearance on home soil at October’s Vienna Open before retiring.
“It’s actually a really important moment for me because I had my greatest success of my career here on this court, in a weird 2020 in very strange and different circumstances [in front of no spectators during the Covid-19 pandemic],” Thiem said. “Unfortunately I had this success without any of you, so that was an amazing moment, but on the other hand pretty sad.
“I’m super happy that I got the chance to play my last US Open, my last match here on this court, and I can spend some time with you guys just to say thank you to all of you and to make the time up from what we missed four years ago.”