Amelie Mauresmo began her grasscourt season with a 6-1 4-6 7-5 win over French compatriot Alize Cornet in the first round at Eastbourne.

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• Draw and results

The former world number one and Wimbledon champion, now ranked 30th, capitalised on a stream of errors produced by Cornet to win the first set but then lost her focus in the second.

Sixth seed Cornet squandered two break points early in the decider and paid the price when Mauresmo pounced late in the set to wrap up the match.

"The way I played in the first set was great," Mauresmo told reporters. "But I didn't keep that level up and that put her back into the match and things got a little bit more even."

The top seeds at the event, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli, Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska have byes into the second round.