NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 25, 2005

Serena Williams

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I was very satisfied with that win, I guess.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was. I was just making errors and I should have did some things different. I did eventually close it out.

SERENA WILLIAMS: How is the fitness? Good. I'm feeling good out there, yeah.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I guess I'm happy in the environment. I have a lot of friends out here. I'm in good shape, so...

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's always up for grabs. I'm here once again to try to defend it.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Who do I play?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Maybe. I think I heard of her. I think I've seen her play. I think I've definitely seen her play. Yeah, I've seen her play.

SERENA WILLIAMS: You know what, I'm ignorant to the whole West Bank settlement of Israel. I'm American. Can you elaborate on that, please.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Is it, hmm. I'll have to look more into that. I mean, unfortunately, like I said, I have no idea. I'm totally blind to that right now. I would have to look into that more.

SERENA WILLIAMS: There's a lot of people that I wouldn't recognize so I can't, you know -- there's just a lot of people. Especially now because there's so many new players coming and doing so well, so... But, yeah.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I definitely think it's very interesting to play different players that I've never seen. I seem to play a lot of players, a lot of different players that I've never played before. It's good because it keeps everything interesting.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, as long as all the players are able to stay healthy and, you know, get back. You can't come back all of a sudden. It definitely, I think, takes a little while to get in shape. But if you're working hard, you should be able to come back fast. I just think it will be great for the game again.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Definitely, no, I knew she was a tough player. Almost played her a few times but then we never met so I've been meaning to play her for a while now.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think she has great potential. She's a great fighter. I believe she's young, is she young?

SERENA WILLIAMS: So she's doing really well, and she's a fighter and a hustler. She's gotten better already in a year.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think, you know, obviously she's been doing really well as a player. She wins a lot of Tier II's and Tier I's as well, hasn't quite been able to win that Grand Slam. She's almost there. I think she'll definitely get there sooner or later.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you know, she won a lot of tournaments. I think Lindsay was No. 1 without winning a Slam last year as well. It goes to show you if you play a lot, then, you know, you can be No. 1. But I want to win Slams.

SERENA WILLIAMS: For me, the No. 1 ranking is obviously really important. I would love to be No. 1, but at the same time, I would love to win Grand Slams and keep going because I always said, if you win the Slams, then the ranking will come.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know. I try to block it out. Sometimes you hear what people are saying. For me, I'm just fighting, you know.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think physically Althea -- it would be a great challenge for me because I guess I would have to get in different type of shape, maybe lose a little muscle mass. That would be exciting to play that role. Actually, I think it would be fun. It would be a great role for me to play. I've never thought about that, actually. I should probably try to get in on it, you know, because actually I would really do well in that role. I would excel because I obviously play tennis and I'm obviously an actress, and I think it would, you know, it would be hot and it would really be able to stretch my acting because Althea went through a lot as well off the court, and then she was playing golf and stuff like that. I would love, love to do that.

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I didn't read it. I didn't read it. Who would play Angela Buxton?

SERENA WILLIAMS: (Smiling) Venus, I don't know, maybe she acts as well so, you know... But we would go out and test for it. Hopefully I'd get the role (laughing).

SERENA WILLIAMS: I just let it by and I just play tennis. People are always speculating on what I'm going to wear next, so we'll keep watching. I like to make people guess. It's fun.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I would say the mental aspect because, you know, I was winning, but it's like getting back in that mental stability thinking, "Okay, right here I'm going to focus on this point." Because you know which point you want to focus on. So just later last year, and during the California swing of tournaments, I finally was in that mental aspect thinking, "Okay, this point right here." I was like, "Oh, I forgot that I used to do that." I forgot that was what I used to do to stay focused on the court. I would say that takes the longest.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Last year I wasn't in shape at all. I was just here on a wing and a prayer.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know. I guess mentally I was in shape. I was like "Okay, I'm not going to get tired." But it was hard because it was hard for me to run and do things to get in shape last year because I had knee problems. But, you know, this year has been much different. I'm just so excited that I'm not having those issues right now.