Iga Swiatek insists "everything is fine" despite back-to-back losses in the lead-up to the Australian Open, with the world No 2 "super sore" but confident of recovering for the season-opening Grand Slam.
The Polish star crashed 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in the mixed-teams United Cup final in Sydney on Sunday, which came on the back of a lacklustre 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Coco Gauff in the semifinals.
A shellshocked Swiatek lost seven games in a row against Bencic, including a rare set to love, with a racquet toss and tears at the end of the match summing up her frustration.
It was uncharacteristic for the six-time Grand Slam winner, who rarely loses consecutive matches.
She most recently did so at the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November, falling to Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anisimova. Before that, her previous back-to-back defeats were in 2021.
"Everything is fine," she said after the final, which Poland won 2-1 courtesy of Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski clinching the deciding mixed doubles.
"Just super sore. I guess first tournament of the year, it costs the body a bit differently than during the season. But I had similar experience last year also.
"I'll just get good recovery, couple days off.
"Also I know these team events. I love them but they really take a lot of energy from you. I still need to figure out how to balance that maybe in the future."
Swiatek, who picked up solid wins over Eva Lys, Suzan Lamens and Maya Joint before meeting Gauff and Bencic, admitted she physically was not in the second set against the Swiss.
"I think it was a mix of me losing the intensity, and I wasn't feeling so sharp with movements and with my legs. I wasn't so precise any more physically I would say," she said.
With the Australian Open starting at Melbourne Park on Sunday, Swiatek has little time to iron out her technical issues after 36 unforced errors to Bencic's 10 on Sunday.
"We're going to work now to improve some elements that didn't work this week," she said.
"Still not a lot of time for that if I also want to have some recovery days. This is how tennis is. You got to go with the flow. We'll see."
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam title to evade the 24-year-old, who has made the semifinals twice but never gone further.
She lost in the last four in 2025 to eventual champion Madison Keys.