Simona Halep beats Naomi Osaka to reach Australian Open quarter-finals

Top seed Simona Halep recovered from a third-round win that lasted nearly four hours to beat Naomi Osaka and reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.

The Romanian, 26, came through a tight first set before racing away to a 6-3 6-2 victory in Melbourne.

Halep showed no sign of the ankle injury she suffered in the first round.

She goes on to face the winner of the all-Czech contest between sixth seed Karolina Pliskova and 20th seed Barbora Strycova.

It is the third time Halep has made the last eight at Melbourne Park but the first time since 2015.

The two-time French Open runner-up is chasing a maiden Grand Slam title after securing the number one ranking last October.