Heather Watson admits she is happy to endure more sleepless nights if it means she can continue her fairytale run at Wimbledon.
Watson ended Britain’s 10-year wait to have a woman in the third round at Wimbledon as the youngster swept to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Jamie Hampton of the United States on Wednesday.
For the first time since Elena Baltacha made it to the last 32 at the All England Club back in 2002, there will be a British female presence late in the first week.
It is uncharted territory for Watson, whose reward for reaching the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time is a clash against third seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Elena Vesnina who put out Venus Williams in the first round.
The only downside of the success for Watson has been a lack of sleep caused by anxiety before her matches and a rush of adrenaline afterwards.
“This whole week I’ve been sleeping pretty bad. Actually last night wasn’t great either. But if I keep playing like this, I don’t really mind,” she said.
“As soon as that last point was over, it’s kind of like an explosion of happiness and relief.
“All that tension’s gone. I just love when the crowd is so loud at the end. It’s an amazing feeling. That’s why I play tennis, for those moments.”
When Watson came off court she wasn’t aware of the historic nature of her achievement, but – with British female success so rare – it didn’t take long before she was made aware by legions of well wishers.
“I was completely unaware. I don’t really look or think about things like that. I just focus on myself and my next match,” Watson said.
“But as soon as I come off the court, everybody seems to let me know all the previous stats. I’ve been told about five times already.”
The joyous back-slapping was a stark contrast to Watson’s 2011 Wimbledon campaign, which ended with her in tears during a news conference as she struggled to come to terms with an arm injury that allowed Mathilde Johansson to come from a set down to win their first round match.
“It was horrible for that to happen in basically my biggest tournament of the year, but it’s turned out for the better this year,” she said.
