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ROGERS CUP WOMENAugust 10, 2014Venus WilliamsMONTREAL, QUEBEC A. RADWANSKA/V. Williams THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You served really well in the first set. In the second set you took a lot of pace off the first serve. Was that a conscious decision to put more first serves in? VENUS WILLIAMS: Maybe I just tried to mix it up a little bit. I think for the most part I usually try to go for my first serve. So different tactics, I guess. Q. What do you think made the difference today? VENUS WILLIAMS: You know, she's always playing well. Every time we play, she plays a great match. She just didn't make a lot of errors, and does what she does best. She just was a little too good today. Q. How did it feel today going into the match physically? VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's been a really long week. I played like six matches in a row. Against her you really have to be patient. Today I just didn't have everything to be patient and really work the point. So, you know, it's wonderful. I'd love to play again next week six matches in a row, too, but it's a lot. It's a lot. I just fell a little short today. I wanted to give more, but I just didn't have it. It felt great to play so well this week. I really would like to think under circumstances where I could give everything I have, that the results could have been a little different. Q. Are you saying you're tired because of the illness? VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I just think this week I was tired because I played so many matches, a couple thousand hours on the court. That's great for me. Instead of unreasonable fatigue that's unconquerable, just the opposite really: a fatigue from too much success. That's the positive of today. I ran out of energy because I was winning too many matches. I haven't had that problem in a long time. Q. Considering how well you've done this week, you're back in the top 20, have you set yourself some goals between now and the end of the season? VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I totally wanted to be in the top 20 like earlier this year. I've been having goals. Just kind of fell a little short. But it's always a goal in mind for myself and hopefully most tennis players. I would love to hit the top 16 and just keep going forward after that. Obviously, if I can continue this level of tennis, it will be something that can happen for me. Q. What did you enjoy the most during this amazing week in Montréal? VENUS WILLIAMS: What I enjoyed the most was just being able to compete, being able to push myself, being able to have the opportunity to really bring everything I had. So for me that felt amazing, just to have a chance, to be able to enjoy the competition. For me, that was the most amazing part of the week. As well as the fans here in Montréal, because I didn't expect that kind of support. I felt like I was from, you know, Québec. I might be a long‑lost soul from Québec. This is my favorite city. I love it. My favorite city has always been Rome. As I've been going around the city, I'm like, Oh, my God, this is really competing with Rome. I just love it here. So I can't wait to come back. As much as I love Toronto, I wish the women's tournament was here every year. Just seeing the fans, too. I think I was hitting some balls on Sunday, and I couldn't believe the massive number of fans here. I was like, My God, I've never seen anything like it, even at a major. Just overwhelming support for tennis here. Makes you feel real good about what you're doing on the court. Q. Why did you wait so long? VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. There's times I didn't enter. There were many times I had to withdraw with injury. It wasn't planned. It was just something that happened. Q. Is it possible that you might be back later on this year to play in Québec? VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes, actually, I am coming back to Québec. I'm so excited. Right after the Open. This has been a year where I've, like, been doing things that I've never done before, which is coming to Montréal, coming to Québec. I'm excited about that. What's great about that tournament is it's the first place Serena ever played a professional match. It will be nice to go back to that, experience the things she experienced. I would love to continue my winning ways in Canada, in Québec, so I'm looking forward to it. Q. You talked earlier this week about enjoying the time you have, a new philosophy for enjoying the game. Based on the success you're having, does that philosophy shift to becoming more competitive, not so much the enjoyment of the game, but the enjoyment of the results? VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, it's interesting because when you're out there training, you work hard so you can get the results. When you don't get them, you just go back to the drawing board. For me, it's starting to come. Finding myself in all these different situations where you're playing the world No.1, you're in the semifinals, you're in a final, I've done it so many times, but yet I haven't done it in a while. I've played in some matches, but then long breaks between, that sort of thing. It's definitely a really interesting experience. I would say more than anything I'm just so grateful. Obviously everything that I've accomplished on the court I earned, 'cause you can't not earn it. But I'm so grateful just for everything. It's a whole new way of looking at things now. Q. Prize money has come up a few times. Stacey Allaster talked about the difference in prize money between the men and women in Canada. You're somebody who has lobbied for that in the past. What do you think should be done in bringing about total equality in prize money? VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm sorry, I'm not sure what the men's prize money is. Their tournament might be a different tier. Q. It is. In general, what do you think can be done to bring about that kind of equality? VENUS WILLIAMS: I think this is a different case because we have five tournaments at this level, and it happens this level tournament is in this city. We also have four tournaments at another level that are equal with the men. The tours are separate. I'm not sure what their tournament is. I think it might be a Masters Series. I'm not as tuned in to their tour. At this point I think it's just the different level of tournaments happening in the same week. It's not necessarily connected. I really haven't paid attention to their tour in terms of that, if that makes any sense. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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