Tennis: Serena Williams pleads with fans for teething advice

Serena Williams' daughter Alexis Olympia shows off her boxing pose in Instagram pictures. Photo / Instagram

Tennis great Serena Williams has taken to social media to seek teething advice.

The 23-time singles grand slamd champion gave birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr in September and is expected to return to the court for next month's Australian Open.

"Teething- aka the devil - is so hard. Poor Alexis Olympia has been so uncomfortable. She cried so much (she never cries) I had to hold her until she fell asleep. I've tried amber beads... cold towels.... chew on mommies fingers.... homeopathic water (lol on that one) but nothing is working. It's breaking my heart. I almost need my mom to come and hold me to sleep cause I'm so stressed. Help? Anyone??," Williams posted on Twitter.

Nothing is working. It's breaking my heart. I almost need my mom to come and hold me to sleep cause I'm so stressed. Help? Anyone??

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) December 17, 2017

Teething- aka the devil - is so hard. Poor Alexis Olympia has been so uncomfortable. She cried so much (she never cries) I had to hold her until she fell asleep. I've tried amber beads... cold towels.... chew on mommies fingers.... homeopathic water (lol on that one) but...... pic.twitter.com/hCRMJ0RhUQ

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) December 17, 2017

She's had more than 2000 replies from fans.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley earlier this month said Williams was "very likely" to defend her title.

"She's got her visa, she's entered, she's practising - she probably just needs a little more space for her entourage," Tiley said.

"There's no question that she'll be ready, in our view."

Williams only revealed in the weeks after beating sister Venus in this year's final that she was pregnant when she won her record seventh Open crown in Melbourne in January.