Samantha Stosur is adamant she's ready for yet another crack at the Australian Open after two gruelling workouts at the Sydney International.
Stosur will head to Melbourne Park for a 19th appearance after going down to 192nd-ranked Timea Bacsinszky 5-7 6-4 6-4 in the second round on Wednesday.
But while disappointed with the exit, the 35-year-old took solace from a gruelling defeat that stretched for almost three hours.
That came after battling it out for almost two-and-a-half hours in her impressive round-win over former world No.4 Dominika Cibulkova in round one.
"Look, at the end of the day, still two matches and one that I really had to try and really battle through. I tried what I could out there. It just wasn't easy," Stosur said.
"Obviously I'd much rather be here tomorrow, but I guess two matches under my belt this week is not a bad thing heading into Melbourne."
The loss came just days after her upset of Cibulkova, however the one-time US Open champion remains optimistic about her prospects at her home grand slam.
The world No.73 hasn't gotten out of the first round in Melbourne since 2015.
"I was really pleased with that match," Stosur said of her win over Cibulkova.
"I'm ready to play whoever I get drawn against. Whether they're No. 1 in the world or the last one in, everyone is out there trying to achieve the same thing and play well
"There is typically no easy matches. And if you somehow manage to snag one, well, happy days. But I'm still confident in my ability and what I'm able to do out on a tennis court.
"I'll be ready."
Stosur wasn't the only local to bow out on day four, with qualifier Priscilla Hon almost claiming the biggest scalp of her career.
The world No.161 looked set to defeat the 33rd-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich when she won the first eight games on showcourt one.
However Sasnovich found her groove to win six of the next seven games to force a third set, before eventually prevailing 0-6 6-3 6-3 and now faces Bacsinszky in the quarter-finals.
Belgian 10th seed Elise Mertens also needed three sets on Wednesday to beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2 in a first-round match.
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