China Open: Halep seals landmark win over Maria Sharapova

Romanian second seed Simona Halep recorded her first victory over Maria Sharapova and advanced to the China Open quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-2 win, BBC Sport reports.

The 26-year-old world number two, in her eighth match with Russian ex-world number one Sharapova, raced 4-1 ahead.

She won in 72 minutes to reach her second China Open quarter-final.

In the last eight Halep will play the winner of the evening match between Polish world number 11 Agnieszka Radwanska and Russian Daria Kasatkina.

Sharapova beat Halep at the US Open in August but committed 39 unforced errors in an untidy display in Beijing.

The 30-year-old Russian, who returned to competitive tennis in April following a 15-month doping ban, was competing at the China Open for the first since she won the title in 2014.

Now ranked 104, Sharapova beat fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova in three sets in the previous round but could find no answer to the power and precision of the groundstrokes from Halep, who made only six unforced errors.