THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 29, 2026

Harriet Dart

Press Conference

J. OSTAPENKO/H. Dart

6-3, 3-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Firstly, how do you reflect on that performance?

HARRIET DART: It's a good question. Well, look, I thought it was an incredible match. I think it was very challenging with the circumstances. You know, we were both told, I think, past 10:00 p.m. last night with the schedule change. Not really heard that before. And, yeah, I guess it's the same for both of us.

But then, yeah, it's an amazing opportunity to be on Court 1, to play her at Wimbledon as a British player, those are the kind of matches you want to be able to play on and to be able to perform well.

Of course naturally I'm disappointed not to get the result. But if I look at the last few weeks, I felt like today was definitely a step in a better direction.

Q. What were your thoughts when you heard last night?

HARRIET DART: It's always a little bit of mixed thoughts. You know, I haven't played on a big court in quite a while. It brings it's different challenges.

Like I said, I think being British, playing here at Wimbledon, you always want to be able to play well, and against such a champion like Jelena, you know, she's a Grand Slam champion for a reason. She also performed well here on the grass courts many times. I have had some tough matches with her previously, so I always knew it was going to kind of be a really tough battle.

In the end, I pushed her as much as I could. And hopefully in the coming months, those kind of matches can go more in my favor.

Q. You said it was a step in the right direction. Obviously you have still got doubles to come. What's the process for resetting?

HARRIET DART: For sure, I mean, excited to play doubles here with Maia, for sure. I think we have been on some great form recently. We know our opponents pretty well. And I think Maia has played one of Janice Tien, this will be the fifth time in five weeks, which is a bit wild.

At the same time, it's a great opportunity for me to get back out there and gain some confidence at this level and kind of keep taking it with me for the coming months.

Q. You mentioned not being on a big court in a while. Wonder how it felt to be in front of a full house and a pretty engaged house, as well?

HARRIET DART: For sure. I felt like I was really trying to feed off it. It was an incredible atmosphere out there. I love to play on big stages. And to be able to play here on Court 1 again, it was truly incredible.

I think, you know, I have played at Wimbledon many times now, and I also know that many players come and play these tournaments and never get the opportunity to play on a big court.

So I know that it's invaluable for me just to keep growing, and also at the same time to kind of use it as a springboard to get back where I want to be.

Q. Just to follow up on that, have you always seen it as a positive to be a British player at Wimbledon in front of a big crowd? Has it ever, maybe when you were younger, felt like a bit of pressure?

HARRIET DART: I mean, regardless of the situation, you always feel pressure. It's just the nature of our sport, regardless whether it's from outward noise, yourself. I mean, I think as athletes, as players, we naturally expect a lot from ourselves anyway.

So I think it's important to kind of address that there is always going to be pressure there. It's just about how you can deal with it in those moments. And, you know, it's not just being a British player out there. I think every player has pressure, regardless of the situation. And no matter how many times you do it, someone's always feeling the pressure.

It's just how people handle it, and some people handle it better than others.

Q. The issue you had early on, what was that? How did that sort of impact the start of the match?

HARRIET DART: Yeah, well, yesterday I had a bit of a scare because I fell over during the practice, so I wasn't really sure what was going to happen today. But luckily that's been okay. But I did feel something a little bit in my foot, so just wanted to get it taped to make sure that I wasn't putting any extra pressure on it.

But yeah, I still haven't had time to have a look at it yet, but it wasn't hindering me out there at all. Just needed it to be offloaded a little bit and to protect it.

Q. Given how the match started, you must be happy how you came back and made a match of it?

HARRIET DART: For sure, I mean, she's notorious for being a very fast starter. Yeah, it can be a little bit overwhelming at times, because she plays very fast, and she kind of takes the points away from you.

But I also know that, you know, once I was settled and was able to get into the match a bit and play my game, I know that, you know, I can be competitive with her and kind of was able to turn that match around.

It's always tough playing first day, first match, because the courts are very lush so the conditions are quite tough in that respect.

But again, hoping to use this as kind of a steppingstone for me.

Q. I just wanted to talk about the third set and the sense of opportunity that you kept sort of putting your hand on her shoulder to get yourself over the line. Every time you got there, just sort of seemed to slip away. Can you talk about sort of how close that was, and the feelings of almost being there?

HARRIET DART: I mean, the reality is I was up a break twice, but it's a long way from the finish line. I mean, when you play players of the stature of Jelena, you know there is one or two points in it. And I think in the end that's what it kind of came down to. I also think the second game of the third, she hit a line and two dead net cords. Today it felt like luck wasn't really in my favor.

You also know against these players that no matter you break, next game they're going to be on you. You can say I had some opportunities, for sure, but at the same time, she kind of stepped up at some crucial moments, and she hit quite pretty close to the line a lot of the times.

Q. I know you have just talked about the atmosphere, but you could really sort of feel the will for you to deliver the win for the crowd from them. It was quite a sort of special connection there at this tournament for a home player. Can you talk about that feeling in terms of wanting to do that for them?

HARRIET DART: I mean, it's really nice to play in front of a home crowd, and especially a rowdy crowd because I always think British people are generally quite subdued when they watch and quite polite. So it was actually really nice to play in an atmosphere which felt like it was heavily supportive of me. So that was an amazing thing.

To hear it, I think for me, this is like the first time I have really felt that here. I really felt their support on my side. It was great to have that energy and to kind of experience that.

Yeah, it was quite special, actually.