3 minute read

Australia's Lizette Cabrera has upset former world No.4 Caroline Garcia 4-6 6-4 6-2 in the first round of the Hobart International.

Australia's Lizette Cabrera has notched one of the biggest wins of her career, beating former world No.4 Caroline Garcia in the first round of the Hobart International.

The 22-year-old Cabrera stunned the Frenchwoman 4-6 6-4 6-2 in a touch over two hours on Tuesday.

It was the second opening round exit at Hobart in the space of two years for Garcia, who is currently ranked 46 in the world.

"I didn't think I was playing my best tennis and I don't think Caroline was either," Carbrera admitted.

"It was kind of tough sometimes with the wind picking up here and there but I thought mentally I was really strong throughout the whole three sets and kind of had the edge over her."

World No.129 Cabrera will next meet Kristyna Pliskova, the identical twin of world No.2 Karolina.

She is the sole Australian remaining in the tournament after Samantha Stosur and Astra Sharma were knocked out on Monday.

It was a good day for the top four seeds who all won first round matches.

Top seed and world No.17 Elize Mertens got the ball rolling with an easy 6-1 6-1 win over Christina McHale.

Garbine Muguruza, looking to get back to the kind of form the saw her capture the French Open title in 2016 and Wimbledon the following year, dominated the first set before easing to a 6-1 7-5 win over Yafan Wang.

Shuai Zhang had an early scare against Kirsten Flipkens but the fourth seed held her nerve to win 4-6 6-3 6-2.

And third seed Elena Rybakina breezed into the second round with a 6-1 6-4 win over Tamara Zidansek.

Other early winners on Tuesday included former world No.11 Alize Cornet and ninth seed Catherine Bellis.