Simona Halep: World number one loses to Ashleigh Barty at Sydney International

World number one Simona Halep’s first match in more than three months ended in defeat by Australia’s Ashleigh Barty at the Sydney International.

The Romanian, who cut short her 2018 season with a back injury, was beaten 6-4 6-4 by the world number 15 in the second round after a first-round bye.

French Open champion Halep, 27, who was runner-up at last year’s Australian Open, has started 2019 without a coach.

The first Grand Slam of the year starts in Melbourne on Monday.

Barty fired 26 winners on her way to her first victory over a world number one. She will face either Belgian 10th seed Elise Mertens or Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in the next round.