BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) Christina McHale of the United States upset 11th-seeded Alize Cornet of France 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 Monday to reach the second round of the Aegon Classic.
The 23-year-old McHale tumbled out of the top 100 in the rankings from a career-high 24th after contracting mononucleosis two years ago but showed excellent movement on the grass against Cornet, who stunned Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year.
She trailed 0-40 when serving for the match, but recovered to clinch the win. She said ''I'm very glad I closed it out then, because we always have long battles.''
Ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza also lost 6-3, 6-1 to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who won the title here six years ago.
Top-seeded Simona Halep has a bye into the second round, where she'll face local wild-card entry Naomi Broady.
