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After slumping to a second-round Australian Open loss, Garbine Muguruza says she struggled with her lead-up after her entire team contracted COVID-19.

Distracted by the absence of her team due to COVID-19 in the lead-up to the Australian Open, Garbine Muguruza will depart Melbourne early after making a shock second-round exit.

Coming off victory at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, the 2020 Open runner-up had shaped as one of the main contenders to world No.1 Ash Barty.

Instead, Muguruza equalled her worst-ever result in Melbourne, suffering a shock 6-3 6-3 loss to Alize Cornet.

"It's been a pretty stressful start of the year also with my team. They all got COVID before coming here," Muguruza said.

"We were, like, for 15 days apart. It was hard for me for the preparation to come to the Aussie swing and play and perform well. That was tricky, a little bit.

"Physically here I wasn't also feeling my best. It was a stressful start of the year I would say."

While happy to train by herself, Muguruza said the disruption to the end of pre-season "threw (her) a little bit off".

"Although I had time here to prepare and everything, yeah, the combination of everything didn't help me," she said.

Muguruza said regular COVID-19 testing was optional at Melbourne Park -- she'd chosen to test herself every two days in her room.

The Spaniard lamented a lack of aggression against world No.61 Cornet, who next faces 29th seed Tamara Zidansek.

"My serve wasn't there. My shots weren't there also. Tactically I wasn't doing the right decisions either," Muguruza said.

"On top of that she played very well, very solid game.

"I think she plays better when she's playing against top players."