Great Britain face an uphill task to reach the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after losing both singles matches on day one of their tie against France.
Katie Boulter was beaten 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) by world number five Caroline Garcia to put France 1-0 up.
Harriet Dart, the highest-ranked player in Emma Raducanu's absence, then lost 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) to Alize Cornet.
It means France have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five tie, which concludes at Coventry Arena on Saturday.
There have been just seven comebacks from 2-0 down in the competition, which was formerly known as the Fed Cup, since the best-of-five format was adopted in 1995.