Halep, Stephens bundled out in Sydney

SYDNEY, Jan 09 (AFP): World number one Simona Halep's preparations for next week's Australian Open suffered a huge setback on Wednesday when she was bundled out of the Sydney International, along with fourth seed Sloane Stephens.

The Romanian hadn't played since withdrawing from the WTA Finals in October with a herniated disc, and was no match for fast-rising Australian Ashleigh Barty, who scored the biggest win of her career 6-4, 6-4.

In the men's draw, third seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman booked his place in the quarters by beating Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in two sets. He will next face Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka.

Veteran Italian Andreas Seppi is also through to meet top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, while fifth seeded Alex De Minaur set up an all-Australian last eight tie with Jordan Thompson. France's Gilles Simon will take on another Australian, John Millman.