SYDNEY — World number two Simona Halep continued her preparations for next week's Australian Open by booking a semi-final berth at the Sydney International with a gritty straight-sets win over Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.
The Romanian withdrew from the Brisbane International last week because of a nagging Achilles injury, which also affected her 2015 campaign, and played through pain on Tuesday night in her second-round match against Caroline Garcia of France.
Pliskova did not make it any easier for Halep, twice the Czech fighting back before the top seed won 6-4 7-5 to set up a last-four clash against Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.