The world's second-ranked women's tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep, started the 2016 season with a victory against French Caroline Garcia.

The two players met in the opening match at the Apia International Sydney tournament on Tuesday night.

"It was a tough match. I actually expected a tough match because I know her pretty well. She's strong and she hits the ball powerfully. She has a good serve," Halep said, cited by Wtatennis.com.

The Romanian won the game in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, reaching the tournament quarterfinals where she will play against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova. Halep has beaten Pliskova in both of their previous meetings.

All four quarterfinals of the tournament will take place on Wednesday.

Apia International Sydney is a Premier tournament with total money prizes of USD 687,900.

Simona Halep was set to make her 2016 debut at the Brisbane International tournament last week, but she withdrew due to a leg injury.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com