Aus Open PIX: Halep beats Mertens to enter quarters

Simona Halep had to be at her counter-punching best to see off a determined second-set comeback from Elise Mertens on Monday as the Romanian world number three advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Halep, a beaten finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, will next meet either Estonia's 28th-seed Anett Kontaveit or Poland's Iga Swiatek in the last eight.