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ROGERS CUP

August 11, 2015

Serena Williams

TORONTO, ONTARIO

S. WILLIAMS/F. Pennetta
2‑6, 6‑3, 6‑0

THE MODERATOR: First question, pleas.

Q. Serena, was that first match of the tournament a little bit more tense than what you would have liked or is it nice to have a good battle to get things running here on the hard courts?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's definitely a little more tense, but not that I would have liked. It was a good opportunity for me because I haven't played a match on hard courts since April‑ish, early, early April, after Miami. So it was a long time ago. So I think it was really good for me to have that match play.

Q. What do you attribute the first set and then being down a break in the second set? Was it conditions, time off?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Unforced errors, you know, pretty much. Yeah. I had a lot of unforced errors.

Q. What was it that suddenly switched, then, for you to get back in the match and close it out so easily seemingly?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I just told myself to drop it, like drop the racquet low and just get ready to do everything I could to like get into the game and try to do different things, and that's what I started doing.
And I was‑‑ I really didn't‑‑ I was thinking‑‑ last time I was here I won. I should at least try to get through this, you know, and give 200 percent, and you know, I started playing better, but I was still making errors, and then I just started playing a lot better and making less errors.

Q. What was the wind like out there and how is the elbow after this match?
SERENA WILLIAMS: The wind was‑‑ it was windy for sure. Very windy.
Good preparation for the Open, because the Open is much windier than this.
Elbow was okay, definitely not perfect, but, you know, I'll see how it recovers tomorrow.

Q. How did you find your adjustment back to hard courts early on in that match?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I just found it‑‑ I found it okay. I just found like it was, just getting used to shots and balls were coming a lot faster.
She played really well. She was hitting the balls deep, and she was doing a lot of things well.

Q. If you best describe the feeling that comes over you when you're down a set, in this case a break in the second? Is it more frustration? Is it anger? What is it that propels you forward and allows you to dig out of so many holes?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it's a little bit of both. I was really frustrated with how I was playing. I was making so many errors. And then I got really angry. And then‑‑ and that frustration just kind of was like, okay, just try something different, just keep going. And I was just, you know, and then I felt like I was actually a little too frustrated and I was a little too down on myself, so I said, Serena, you're going to have to be positive and be good to yourself out here. And then once I started being more positive, I started actually playing better, too.

Q. That's 12 straight match wins for you now in Toronto. What is it about this city, this tournament, this environment that seems to see you play so well?
SERENA WILLIAMS: We are 12. Okay. I don't know. I love the city, and I've said this a million times. I really love playing here. I love the vibe. I love the city.

Q. Does it surprise you that if you go back to 2001, the first year you were champion here, there's nobody left from that year's tournament still playing here except for you? How does that make you feel?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Like a nice vintage wine. (Laughs). A good vintage red wine, I'd say, getting better with age, I hope.
THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? Okay. Thank you very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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