Qualifier Harriet Dart meets teenager Lilli Tagger for the Guangzhou title

Harriet Dart and Lilli Tagger will meet for the Guangzhou WTA 250 title after two semi-finals on Saturday that could hardly have looked more different.

Britain’s Dart, a 30-year-old qualifier, saved three match points before beating Chinese wild card Sun Xinran 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-0 in 2 hours 30 minutes to reach her first WTA Tour final. Sun, 16, won the US Open junior title this year.

Dart trailed 5-4 in the second set when she faced three match points on her own serve, and she saved all three to hold. She then took the tie-break 7-1 and won the deciding set without dropping a game.

“It’s been a really long journey. I’ve wanted it so much, so badly – sometimes too much,” Dart said after the match. “To finally be here means the world.”

Tagger needed only 52 minutes. Austria’s Tagger, seed No. 4, beat Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo 6-2, 6-0. She held all seven of her service games without facing a break point. She also won all 19 points played on her first serve.

The final will be their first meeting on tour.