Tennis: Back injury forces Simona Halep to retire from first round of China Open

Top-ranked Simona Halep retired Sunday from her first-round match at the China Open in Beijing.

Halep lost the first set 6-1 to Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur before retiring with a back injury that she also had problems with at last week’s Wuhan Open.

It’s the fourth straight loss for the defending French Open champion.

Third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany cruised past Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round. The Wimbledon champion broke Mladenovic four times to extend her perfect record in opening-round matches at Beijing to nine.

Defending champion Caroline Garcia of France survived an early scare against Chinese wild card Wang Yafan to win 7-6 (10), 6-7 (4), 6-3.

Tomic upsets Fognini to win Chengdu Open

Bernard Tomic upset top-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7) to win the Chengdu Open championship in Chengdu, China, on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Australian, ranked No. 123 in the world, smashed 12 aces and saved seven of 11 break points he faced to win his first ATP title since Bogota 2015. The No. 13-ranked Fognini fell short in his attempt to become the first Italian to win four tour-level titles in one season, following wins at Sao Paulo, Bastad and Los Cabos earlier this year.