British singles interest ended as Harriet Dart suffered a battling defeat by Wimbledon champion Simona Halep in the second round.

Dart was making her second appearance on Rod Laver Arena in as many years, having failed to win a game against Maria Sharapova in the first round 12 months ago.

She avoided that fate comfortably this time and had Halep worried when she fought back from 5-1 down to 5-4 in the second set, saving a match point.

That proved to be as good as it got, but Dart can take great confidence from her performance in the 6-2 6-4 defeat.

“She is not very easy to play, she hits good angles. I was happy to win in the end,” said Halep about her opponent afterwards.

“I watched her previous match, I knew she was smart on court, she doesn’t have much power. Today it was better that I could hit the ball with height. I’m happy my serve helped me.”