SINGAPORE - World No. 1 Simona Halep got handed a swift defeat on Wednesday night (Oct 25) at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, beaten 6-0, 6-2 by Caroline Wozniacki.

The Romanian struggled to hold her serve and could not win points, as she went down easily to her Dane opponent, a former world No.1 herself.

Halep committed 17 unforced errors throughout the match, compared to just seven from Wozniacki.

The manner in which she dominated the match caught Wozniacki by surprise too. It ensured she would progress through to the semi-finals of the tournament, regardless of how the remaining matches pan out.

Said the 27-year-old, now ranked No. 6 in the world: "I didn't expect to be leading by this much, so I was asking myself, 'What's happening, am I really playing that well?'.

"I just tried to stay positive, stayed aggressive, take the ball early and go for my shots."

The match was Wozniacki's second straight win in Singapore, having blitzed past Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-0 on Monday (Oct 23) in just under an hour.

Halep, who reached the final in 2014, stays in the running to progress to the final four. She defeated Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-2 in her opener of the tournament.

Svitolina is scheduled to play Garcia next on Wednesday (Oct 25) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In the other match of the day, Caroline Garcia came from behind to keep her hopes of progressing past the group stage alive. She beat Elina Svitolina 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-5 in a repeat of their long-drawn battle from the China Open quarter-finals earlier this month.

Garcia, Svitolina and Halep all remain in contention to take the remaining spot in the Red Group to make the semi-finals.