Alizé Cornet survived an all-French encounter with Wuhan and Beijing champion Caroline Garcia when her countrywoman retired with a lower back injury

BRISBANE, Australia
Alizé Cornet edged through her first match of the 2018 season when compatriot Caroline Garcia was forced to retire, 3-6, 6-3, ret. at the Brisbane International.

"I've always had some issues with my back," Garcia said after the match. "It was going better, and of course with the flight it was a little bit more sore than normal, but it was ok. At the beginning of the match I felt a pain in my lower back and it was different than it is normally. It was getting worse and worse and in the end I couldn't really move. There was no point to keep going."