WIMBLEDON

June 20, 2004

Serena Williams

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is my great pleasure in introducing Serena Williams, reigning Wimbledon Champion. Who would like to ask the first question?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think the women's game, I've been gone for quite a bit. I came back, I resurfaced in Key Biscayne, haven't been really playing every week. But I think the women's game, I don't think that's a real major problem.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I really like it here. It's a great atmosphere. I enjoy coming to Wimbledon. I really enjoy, you know, just being here and playing on the grass. Just everything about Wimbledon is really special. It's like no other Grand Slam. You know, I've won it twice in a row. It's the only Grand Slam I won twice in a row, so that makes it special, as well.

SERENA WILLIAMS: It definitely wouldn't be '97. I never won a Grand Slam until '99. I know Venus was 2000. You know, I've competed in one Grand Slam. You know, I'm really hard on myself, and I think a lot of people expect me to win a hundred percent of the time, and I expect myself to win 200% of the time. And so when you boil it down, when you think about it, it's like you're not going to win every match. No matter how good you are, no matter how much you try, you're not going to win everything. So if you think about it that way, then it's really not that bad.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I've been obviously practicing a lot. I've been doing a lot of off-court work mentally. I've just been relaxing and enjoying myself.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Not everything's done on the court.

SERENA WILLIAMS: If I tell you.... I can't tell you (laughter).

SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm pretty sure someone in here was going to tell me who it is. I don't know who I play. And I'm just -- that's exactly what I usually do, I just focus on my game. And once I figure it out, then that way I won't be worried about who I'm playing.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. Want to "Bend it like Beckham," yeah (laughter). I'm really excited about the English team.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I love David Beckham. I think he's a really good player. I've been following him since, what, the 2000 -- no, it was the '98 World Cup. So that was pretty exciting.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't like him like that. I just think he's a great athlete. I like Victoria, too. I think she's really cool.

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, never, because I'm in Europe usually four weeks before the French, and then that's six weeks during the French. After that, I'd have to -- I honestly would go nuts. I've done it before maybe one year or two years, and it wasn't good on my mental state. So I think it's best for me to go home. Even if it's just for two days, it's better for me to go home than to stay in Europe for too long.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, no, I have the rest of my career to think about that. It's not going to be the last time I play Wimbledon. So I'm going to have a lot of opportunities to become the fifth person. So that's exciting for me, for sure.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it makes a difference for the tour, I guess. Like I say, it doesn't matter who I play or when I play. I think you always have to be on your game whether you're playing the No. 1 player, the No. 2 player, the No. 1000 player. I think it's a shame that they couldn't make it but, you know, at the end of the day, the tournament is still here.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Enjoy the time off (laughter). You know, just enjoy it.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Take as long as you want. Go out, live a little.

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, it comes easier because if you're gone for a little while, you're just really pressed to get back on tour. And I'm really excited. I was really excited myself to really come back. I was like really itching and itching to get back out there. So it definitely -- I think it's easier because you're so ready to come back and play.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Solid. Solid.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm knocking off a lot of the rust. So if I just stay calm... I'm too much of a perfectionist. I just want to do it perfect every time. My dad is consistently telling me that, you know, "Serena, you've got to relax. You've got to relax." I think that's the only factor. I just really want everything to be perfect.

SERENA WILLIAMS: You know what, I think that's always an element. I think going into any different surface, from clay to grass, grass to hard, I think that's always going to be an element, to just work in a few matches and get used to the surface, and then really start to play your game.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think -- who do I think is the best Russian player? I can't say. I don't know. There's so many. I think, I always say - I'm sounding redundant here - but I think anyone is a threat to the title if they believe that they can win. And if I get too overconfident playing anyone, I could end up going home early. And that's not anything I want to do. It's just important for me to just not get, you know, overconfident, just stay relaxed and stay focused.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, after my suicide in Paris, you know, I was really disappointed (smiling). I don't know. I don't know why I did some of those things. No matter what I do, how hard I try, I'm not going to be able to rewind time. So I have to move forward. I've had to get over it.

SERENA WILLIAMS: That was really exciting. I love Donatella Versace. Her collection's always drop-dead gorgeous to me. We always try to get inspired by her line. We've been trying to hook up for a little while now. So it was a perfect opportunity at AMFAR to meet her. I went over there. I was like, "Oh, hi, how are you?" I just love Donatella, I love everything she stands for. I think she's kind of the epitome of a fashion icon and she always looks great in her Versace gowns.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yes.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I would bid 25 or more for a guitar or anything from Green Day.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, it was a lot. I mean, months before. We were working on different designs. You know, I had a lot of different ideas. I wanted to bring back some different stuff. Without getting too overly saying anything, I wanted to bring back, yeah, some different designs, you know, kind of '80s. I'm really influenced by the '80s. I love the '80s, from the music, to the dances, to the movies. So that's kind of what I wanted to do here. That's what I told Nike. She came up with some different designs. It was a couple months preparation, and we finally were able to perfect it just before the French Open.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't feel that way because I feel that I'm just a competitor here and I'm really competing to try to win the title again. I mean, obviously I don't want to give up my title. So I feel that I have to really work even more hard because people are here trying to thieve it from me. So I have to be careful.

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, no, we're staying together. We usually hit together. But, you know, now that we're playing on separate days, we have our hitting partner as well, just in case I can't practice with her. And basically, I mean, that's it.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I'm actually even more serious now because I think before when I was doing really -- not that I'm doing bad now really, but before when I was able to play, I think I took it for granted. You know, I was winning, yeah, but it was like, "Oh, whatever." But now it's a totally different attitude. I'm really serious about it and I really want to win. And I really just -- I just hate to lose.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I've been doing pretty good. I was really surprised at how well it held up on the French with all the clay I've been playing and practicing on. So I've been, you know, really excited. I think the grass is one of the best surfaces for it, so I'm really excited about that.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think I'm physically pretty close to a hundred percent, yeah.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. She's ready to design a dress for me, so I'm definitely going to look into that. Maybe while she's designing, I can watch her, and she can work on the lesson, have tea and coffee, whatever she wants to do. I'm really excited about it. She was really excited about designing a dress for me, as well.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Did I?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I wasn't aware of that. But, I mean, I'm sure she has her things under control. She's looking really good these days.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I just love the '80s. I like the fashion more than anything. I like the whole sleeve off, you know, the golds, just the hairstyle, the big curly. I've been wearing my hair really big and curly lately. I'm more or less into the fashion. The music had pretty much all the same beat. I like Depeche Mode a lot.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Human Lead?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No. What was the first Wimbledon final I saw? I can't remember. I know I think Bjorn Borg and McEnroe was '81, right?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I was born in '81. Heck of a memory (laughter). Whew, yeah. I want to say Boris Becker. I was in love with Boris Becker. I thought he was a great player. When he was 17 and won, that was -- was that '80?

SERENA WILLIAMS: How could I remember that? I must have been watching films later on. That's impossible to remember it then.

SERENA WILLIAMS: No. We both basically tried to commit suicide there, so (laughter). You know, we were both -- no, we just were both pretty disappointed in ourselves. But like I said, we had to get over it quickly because there was Wimbledon around the corner, and we don't want to bring the bad karma to Wimbledon. We can just start fresh. That's the good thing about tennis, you have a new week and you can start again.

SERENA WILLIAMS: We talk real bad to each other. I'll say mean things like, "I can't believe, I was just so silly." She say, "Yeah, I was even worse." I say, "No, Venus, it's impossible, I was worse." We go back and forth with that and kind of laugh. We realize we didn't do really bad, our opponents just played really well. We were just joking and get over it. You can't live in the past, you've got to live in the future and in the present because if you live in the past, then -- you know, I'd still be in the '80s right now.

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's hard to say. We both take it in a different way, in a different angle. I'm more outwardly with it. She's definitely more inward with it. But at the same time, yeah, I don't know. I know I used to definitely take it worse. But we both really enjoy being champions. I think being a champion, you have to be able to take a loss, as well, and not only win.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I mean, I thought about it once. But, you know, we're here and I'm really trying to focus on the tennis aspect of it.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I displace a lot of my energy, put it all towards the ball, towards the racquet. I put it all towards my game. Especially now for this fortnight, I want to really, really do well. That's where I put all my energy into, is trying to do well.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Not that I'm aware of.

SERENA WILLIAMS: No.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Tuesday.