Iga Swiatek addresses fitness after United Cup losses ahead of Australian Open

Last week, Swiatek was part of the Poland team that won the United Cup for the first time as they defeated Switzerland 2-1 in the final in Sydney.

In the opening match of the final, Swiatek fell 6-3, 0-6, 3-6 to Swiss No 1 and world No 10 Belinda Bencic.

After winning the opening set, Swiatek lost seven consecutive games and 10 out of 11 games against an inspired Bencic as she was bageled in the second set and fell 1-4 behind in the decider.

Former world No 9 Andrea Petkovic, who was commentating on the match, noticed that Swiatek's movement did not look to be at its sharpest when she was sliding into the corners.

The six-time Grand Slam champion was also below her best in her previous match as she suffered a convincing 4-6, 2-6 loss to Coco Gauff in Poland's semi-final against USA.

Prior to her two defeats, Swiatek had beaten Eva Lys, Suzan Lamens and Maya Joint at the United Cup.

What did Iga Swiatek say about her fitness after the United Cup?In Team Poland's press conference after their United Cup victory, Swiatek was asked about her health and fitness ahead of the year's first major.

The Pole admitted she had not been "the best version" of herself physically in the second set against Bencic.

"Everything is fine," Swiatek said. "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 (smiling). I get so excited on the bench, yeah, it's almost like playing a match honestly.

"Yeah, it's all good. I, for sure, physically wasn't in the second set the best version of myself. Belinda really used it to push me. For sure, I'll try to get that covered for Australian Open and we'll see."

Asked what happened against Bencic, Swiatek said: "I'm still here. Nothing crazy happened. 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 anymore physically I would say.

"Belinda is a very aggressive player when she gets in the zone. She can really hit amazing shots, not miss a lot. I think it was a mix of that. Also credit to her because she was, yeah, pretty brave with taking the risk and everything."

Swiatek also addressed whether she will try to learn from her losses to Bencic and Gauff before the Australian Open.

"For sure, these are good matches to analyse against really top players," she said.

"Especially Belinda likes to play on fast surfaces. Yeah, it was a good test. We're going to work now to improve some elements that didn't work this week.

"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."

Swiatek will aim to complete a career Grand Slam by winning her maiden Australian Open title, with main draw action at Melbourne Park getting underway on 18 January.

READ MORE: Poland rally to defeat Switzerland and secure maiden United Cup crown