Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number two in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world, advanced on Wednesday to the semifinals of Apia International Sydney tournament.

The Romanian won the match against Czech Karolina Pliskova in two sets 6-4, 7-5, in one hour and 38 minutes.

In the semifinals, Halep will meet former world number 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Romanian leads Kuznetsova in their head-to-head series, 3-2.

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

(photo source: Sydney International - Australian Open Series on Facebook)