Tennis: Barty knocks world number one Halep out of Sydney International

Crowd favourite Ashleigh Barty knocked Simona Halep out of the Sydney International, beating the world number one 6-4, 6-4 in their round of 16 match. The two sets followed remarkably similar patterns, with back-to-back breaks traded before Barty tamed top seed Halep's serve in the tenth game to win both. It was a first victory for Barty in five on-court meetings with Halep, and the Australian knocked out the last two French Open champions in consecutive days, following Tuesday's win over Jelena Ostapenko. World number 15 Barty, who was beaten by Angelique Kerber in last year's Sydney final, will face either Elise Mertens or Anett Kontaveit in the quarter-finals.