Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep crash out from Australian Open

Defending Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and Romanian number one Simona Halep have been forced out of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year following their quarter-final defeats on Wednesday.

Polish star Agnieszka Radwanska beat the Belarussian world number two 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in their quarter-final match at the Rod Laver Arena to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Halep, who was playing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, was beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Slovak player Dominika Cibulkova at the Rod Laver Arena, who reached her first Australian Open semi-final.

Cibulkova will next meet Radwanska in a semi-final clash at the tournament.