Iga Swiatek and Valentin Vacherot's interesting doubles pairing ended with a defeat after the Polish/French combination lost 4-6 4-6 to Elena Rybakina and Andrey Rublev at the World Tennis Continental Cup.
When creating a schedule for the inaugural mixed team event in Shenzhen, the organizers thought it would be entertaining to have the Polish six-time Grand Slam champion and the Shanghai Masters sensation share the same side of the court.
And while it was certainly entertaining to see Swiatek and Vacherot in action together, they failed to get a win in their mixed doubles debut.
In each of the two sets, Rybakina and Rublev claimed one break. Both breaks occurred on the serve of the WTA world No. 2.
Swiatek went 1-2 at the World Tennis Continental Cup
On Friday, Swiatek delivered a pretty strong display to beat Rybakina 6-3 6-3. However, the following day, the Polish tennis star wasn't as successful as she picked up a surprise 2-6 3-6 defeat to world No. 57 Wang Xinyu.
Today, the former top-ranked WTA player returned to the court for a mixed doubles match - and after losing it with Vacherot - she concluded her Shenzhen run with a 1-2 record.
Swiatek will now fly to Australia, where she is set to launch her 2026 season by playing at the United Cup.
