Ashleigh Barty has set up a pre-Australian Open showdown with world No.1 Simona Halep with a comprehensive first-round victory at the Sydney International.

Confirming her status as an Open dark horse, Barty had too many guns for 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, swatting aside the Latvian 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 15 minutes on Tuesday.

Barty crunched five aces, dropped just four points after landing her first delivery and treated Ostapenko’s timid second serve with disdain to break the world No.22 three times in a dominant display.