Australian wildcard Lizette Cabrera has caused a major upset at the Hobart International, defeating former world No.4 Caroline Garcia 4-6 6-4 6-2.
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The 22-year-old Queenslander, who was also awarded a wildcard into next week's Australian Open, took out the Frenchwoman in a two-hour tussle, picking up her first top-100 win since September 2018.
Her victory also means an Australian will take part in round two, facing ace-leader Kristyna Pliskova, after fellow wildcard entrants Samantha Stosur and Astra Sharma were sent packing on day one of competition.
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Cabrera backed up her performance in the doubles arena, as she teamed with Stosur to defeat third seeds Makato Ninomiya and Renata Voracova 6-2 3-6 10-5.
Elise Mertens, the event's 2018 champion and No.1 seed this season, continued her impressive form on the Apple Isle, breezing into the second round by comfortably defeating American qualifier Christina McHale 6-1 6-1.
She will face Viktoria Kuzmova, who played Monday, as Alize Cornet recovered from a miserable second-set performance to defeat Alison Van Uytvanck 7-5 1-6 6-2.
American Catherine Bellis, who burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old in 2016, overcame Marie Bouzkova 3-6 7-6(4) 6-3 as she continues her return from injury, while fourth seed Shuai Zhang managed to avoid an upset, defeating tournament regular Kristen Flipkens 4-6 6-3 6-2.
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