Serena Williams revealed she was suffering with a cold and sickness bug after reaching the last 16 of the French Open.
Williams lost five games in a row midway through her third-round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before calling on the tournament doctor.
Despite continuing to look rather unwell between points, the 28-year-old was able to eke out a 6-1 1-6 6-2 victory after one hour 48 minutes on an overcast Philippe Chatrier Court.
Speaking before heading back out for a women's doubles match with sister Venus, Williams said: "I just ran out of a little energy out there. Just fighting a cold and fighting sickness.
"But I'm just feeling better and getting ready for doubles."
Assessing her overall performance against 29th seed Pavlyuchenkova, who was a third straight opponent in the tournament she had never previously faced, 2002 champion Williams added: "I played all right. I definitely wasn't at my best.
"I just was happy to win, especially against a player that's on the up and up."
Pavlyuchenkova joked afterwards she was hoping Williams was going to retire after she called for the doctor at 5-0 down in the second set.
The 18-year-old said: "I really wished so. I was like, 'Please?'
"No, I'm just kidding, of course.
"I knew that she's quite motivated for this tournament. She hasn't won it so many times like Australian Open or US Open, for example.
"She was maybe a little bit dizzy, but she was still walking and feeling okay physically."
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