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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 23, 2015

Serena Williams

CINCINNATI, OHIO

S. WILLIAMS/S. Halep
6‑3, 7‑6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you talk about what it's like to win this title for the second year in a row?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It feels really good to win this title twice, or just win any title. It definitely feels good, yeah.

Q. Talk about the impact of the crowd. There were a lot of the people rooting for you and Simona as well. Did that impact you the at all?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, no, I had a lot of fans here. Like I said, I don't always have a tremendous amount of support in the crowd, but I really felt it and loved it and appreciated it. It was amazing.

Q. At one point there was a Simona chant going on and the Serena chant came about.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, that was really special. Felt really good to have that. I was excited about that.

Q. It's probably fair to say you've been a bit up and down throughout the tournament in terms of how you felt about your performance. What would be your final grade after today?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I definitely feel there is room for improvement. I think that playing Simona really tested me, and I felt like I was up for the challenge and up for the test.
Final grade, I'm not sure yet. But I do know that ‑‑ I think everyone here knows there is room for improvement for me and I can do better. At least I'm on the right track of going up and not back.

Q. (No microphone.)
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I know. I felt a lot better, and I honestly think playing my semifinal match really prepared me for today. But I felt so much better just in terms of what to do.
Patrick really helps me out in practice today as well in terms of how to‑‑ what he saw wrong. Even though I was not happy doing it, I think it really helped stuck with me.

Q. In terms of your elbow, how is it now? Are you going to rest at all before the Open?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's better now. I just lost a lot of time because I had to rest it and I couldn't play Stanford because of my elbow.
I had to pull out of the other tournament because of my elbow and I couldn't serve. I think that affected me a lot.
Hopefully I'll just suck it up and get ready for the next three weeks.

Q. How often do you find yourself competing against your own standards as much as the person across the net?
SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, I compete a lot against my standards, probably even more. I have such high standards for myself and I expect the best from me and nothing less.

Q. You went through a lot of different facets of your game throughout the tournament. You pulled a Serena; went into Serena drive. How would you characterize this compared to last year?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't remember‑‑ I remember I played Ivanovic in the final, and I thought we were playing really well in that final.
I don't remember much else about last year. I think overall I probably felt more comfortable last year, felt a little better.
At the same time, last year I didn't have any pressure on me. I had lost pretty much every Grand Slam first week, so it was just more or less about trying to win some matches.

Q. I know you want to improve and there is room for improvement at the Open, the last two weeks do you go into the Open in a good spot, just positive and in a good head space?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I do, I do. I think the win here helps me not necessarily‑‑ I just like to‑‑ it also makes me realize the feeling of winning. It's ridiculous.
I like that feeling and want to do the hard work and listening to Patrick and all the stuff that he tells me. So I think it really helps.

Q. Does winning consistently create more pressure?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, but you know what? I decided I prefer to have that pressure than the pressure of not winning. Not everyone can handle that pressure, but I'm okay with it.
I would rather be to this position than another one.

Q. Is it at all a relief to have US Open be the next event you have coming up with the Grand Slam and everything? To have nothing standing between and you New York now, is that exciting?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I'm ready. I don't care if I win or lose or break even. I'm ready to start it, get it over with, and be done and go on to the next event.
But I'm so ready for New York. Let's go, right?

Q. What do you think it'll be like?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's all up to me. If I decide to play right, it'll be great. If I decide to be Baby Rena, then...
I saw someone write that on Instagram. I kind of liked that though. They were calling me out, but I was like, They're right, so...
Yeah, hopefully Baby Rena won't come out.

Q. If you're playing well, who beats you?
SERENA WILLIAMS: You never know. Someone might come out and start treeing against me. If I am playing well then hopefully no one will win, but we'll see.

Q. Seems like the slow start is helping you. What do you say to yourself to get to that point? Why don't you do that in the beginning of the match?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Trying to figure that out myself. It's not like I try to get off to a slow start. I had a really good warmup today. Just didn't work out for me.
But, you know, I don't know.

Q. What did think about the start time of your match today? Right after 3:00, your ideal time.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, yesterday when they said 3:00 I was like, Oh, perfect. I don't have to wake up too early.
So I slept in and did my thing.

Q. Have tea after this?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Huh? Am I going to have some tea? You mean am I going to gossip? Oh, you know, that means gossip to me. No.

Q. If you want to share some, we're ready.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Me too. You got some tea?

Q. On Monday you will be No. 1; Simona will be No. 2. You both played in this final. What do you think it says about the women's game and the status of the women's game to have two women who play very different styles topping the field?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it'll be great. I'm really happy for her. She's been playing consistently and winning a lot of the tournaments this year.
So, yeah, definitely play very different, but at the same time there are similarities in our games. She goes for shots and goes for winners and doesn't just put the ball in play. I do the same thing, and I think it pays off.
Last question.

Q. Going straight to New York?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Probably going to go tomorrow and then just rest here [sic] for a day. Yeah, take a day off and get back at it. Get in there. Get better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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