France began the quest for the inaugural Billie Jean King Cup on Monday with a 2-1 loss to Canada in Group A.
France won the women's national team competition in 2019 when it was called the Fed Cup.
The competition was rechristened in honour of the legendary American player Billie Jean King but cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first match on Monday at the O2 Arena in Prague, Canada’s Francoise Abanda beat Fiona Ferrero in three sets.
Alizé Cornet levelled for France with a straight sets defeat of Rebecca Marino.
The world number 59 then linked up with Clara Burel in the doubles to take on Gabriela Dabrowski and Marino in the doubles.
The Canadian duo were the sharper in the first set and won it 6-3. But the French came back in the second set and served for it but squandered the advantage. Dabrowski and Marino eventually claimed the tiebreak seven points to five.
In Group B, Belarus beat Belgium 2-1.
Group C featuring the United States, Spain and Slovakia gets underway on Tuesday along with Group D which features the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland.
The winners of the four groups will advance to the semi-final knockout stages.
The final will take place on 6 November.
