Another day, and another 108-degree heat warning greeted the fans as they arrived at Melbourne Park. However the crowd and the players would be promised some respite with meteorologists indicating that the heat wave gripping Southern Australia was finally nearing an end. This ensured that the focus would be placed once again back on the tennis instead of the weather. But there was still one scorching day left in store for the week. And players would be hoping that they’d seen the last of the conditions that saw play suspended for four hours on day four.

Up first on Rod Laver Arena was world No. 1 Serena Williams, who took on the elegant but nimble Slovakian 31st seed Daniela Hantuchova. Williams had won their eight out of nine meetings, so not much was expected to change.

The previous day’s events seemed to leave everyone in a state of stupor as the players, the umpires and the crowd seemed lethargic at the beginning of the match. Self-correcting lines people, post warm-up toilet breaks and the lack of intensity in the renowned challenge slow-clap made it seem as if the heat of the past four days took its toll on all involved. Unlike the blockbuster between Maria Sharapova and Karin Knapp yesterday, the energy had dissipated in Rod Laver Arena.

There seemed to a huge absence of intensity once the match was underway. A restrained Williams made an uncharacteristic five unforced errors in the first two games to face numerous break points. She found the range on her groundstrokes, however, winning her serve and breaking Hantuchova. Suddenly, the American found herself up 5-3. Although Hantuchova signaled her intention to force this match past the hour mark, Serena dug deep and served out the set.

The intensity of the game and the crowd somewhat lifted in the second set as Hantuchova started finding her way around the American. She broke Williams’ almost impenetrable serve in the sixth game to add spark to the match. With Williams making more unforced errors than the Slovak, the crowd started to sense a comeback. But just as soon as Hantuchova forced the door ajar, Serena slammed it, breaking back twice to win the match 6-3 6-3 in just 80 minutes.

Williams said she was just pleased to get the job done considering the conditions. “I feel good to have gotten through that one because it was tough conditions out there, but I was happy to win,” she admitted. When asked about the toughest part of playing in the heat, Williams said it was the physical barrier. “It's definitely a lot of physical, but you have to be ready,” she said. “Today actually wasn't as hot. I think it was hotter yesterday.”

When pressed on her unforced errors, Serena admitted she wasn’t comfortable at times on the court. “I was just getting my bearings and trying to do the right thing,” she described. “I wasn't fully on today, so I was just trying to see if I could just go for it and how far out they were going to be, going to try to make them.”

The second notable match on day five and the first match on Hisense Arena today pitted ninth seed Angelique Kerber v against world No. 53 Alison Riske. It promised to be an intriguing match-up with the American having thrashed her first two opponents, 23rd seed Elena Vesnina and Yanina Wickmayer. Although she had lost their only previous encounter three years ago on the Charleston clay, Riske would have fancied herself to upset Kerber.

Unfortunately for the young American, the more experienced Kerber targeted her serve from the outset, which ensured she had to fight for every service game. This meant that there were virtually no free points on her serve and, in the conditions, meant that Riske was expending huge amounts of energy to hold serve. In the first set, she faced six break points and was broken three times. In contrast to the American’s serve, the first set only yielded one break point for Riske.

The second set was more fruitful for the American, who took more risks on Kerber’s serve and was rewarded with three breaks. Kerber, however, made further inroads on Riske’s serve with both players struggling to hold their nerve. At one point in the second set, there were four consecutive breaks of serve. It eventually came down to who could hold their serve, and the German stepped up with a forehand pass on the fourth advantage of the ninth game to hold. With Riske serving to stay in the match, Kerber just had too much class as she broke again to seal a 6-3 6-4 win in 79 minutes.

After the win, Kerber vowed to improve her serve but was optimistic about the rest of her game.

“I will try for sure to improve my serve a little bit,” she affirmed. “Today I was a little bit shaky on my serve, and I think tomorrow on the practice court I will try to practice my serve a little bit more. But at the end I think I was moving very well and tried to go for my shots, but for sure my serve I think I will practice tomorrow a little bit.”