The common cattle tick derailed the season of Australia's No1 female player Samantha Stosur.
The 23-year-old has been put through the wringer over the past six months after contracting both viral meningitis and Lyme disease.
Stosur, who reached a career-high WTA ranking of 27 in January this year and spent 61 weeks as the No1 doubles player, started to feel unwell around Wimbledon in late June.
"I was flying from New York to Tampa and that's when I started to get a headache.
I put up with it all night and then by six o'clock the next morning I couldn't handle it any more and I called friends and they took me to hospital.
"They worked out within 24 hours it was viral meningitis, but it took another four weeks to find out there was another underlying factor why this was happening."
Viral meningitis causes the lining around the brain and top of the spine to swell, which delivers splitting headaches. Lyme disease, carried by ticks, is a bacteria that produces flu-like symptoms such as drowsiness, joint and muscle pain, mild fever and headaches.
Antibiotics have cleared the Lyme disease and she is back in full practise sessions and cross-training.
"The doctors say as long as I'm careful not to push myself too hard and do a controlled rehab program the physios have set out for me, I should be fine with no long-term effects," Stosur said.
"I've got to monitor how I feel each day and if I sense anything coming on, go straight back to the doctor."
But with no singles matches in four months, Stosur has slipped to No47 in the world.
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