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 yesterday.

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.

“It was tough today. It was very close,” Halep told reporters.

“I was leading in the first set, 5-1, but she came back really strong. I know she’s been playing tough, she’s playing well and she’s strong with her serve, and I expected she was going to hit the balls well today.”

Kuznetsova made a slow start in her match against Sara Errani and fell 5-1 down in the first set before fighting back to win 7-6 6-0.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Samantha Stosur suffered a setback in her preparations for her home grand slam as she went down 6-4 6-4 to Monica Puig, of Puerto Rico.