Williams: I struggled sleeping

Serena Williams admitted to having sleepless nights prior to taking on Vesna Dolonc at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Serena Williams admitted to having sleepless nights prior to taking on Vesna Dolonc at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Her fears, however, had nothing to do with the 104-ranked opponent who she beat 6-1 6-2, but rather the blistering heat she had to do it in.

"I kept waking up in the middle of the night last night, just paranoid," said Williams, who is no stranger to the sun as she often trains in Florida heat.
"I just wanted to stay hydrated. The last thing I want to do is to cramp in this weather. It can happen so easy."
Williams was not alone in her fear of the sweltering heat and is likely to play in these extreme conditions again as temperatures in excess of 40 degrees have been forecast for the next three days.
On Thursday it could get even less tolerable as the barometer could move past 44 degrees Celsius as Melbourne experiences its hottest weather in a century.
Both Maria Sharapova and and top-ranked Rafael Nadal are scheduled to play in those boiling conditions that have not yet prompted tournament referee Wayne McKewen to invoke the Extreme Heat Policy - this despite nine players retiring from exhaustion in the first round.
Tournament doctor Tim Wood insisted that it wasn't hot enough to endanger professional players.
"There were only a couple of court calls today related to the heat and no player required medical intervention," he said.