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U.S. OPEN

September 1, 2016

Venus Williams

New York, NY, USA

V. WILLIAMS/J. Goerges

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. From our perspective, that felt like a very measured match for you. How did you feel?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, definitely today was a lot more measured than my first round. I just felt like I had to dial it back a little bit, maybe play a little bit more percentage tennis, play within myself, keep my errors down.

Very happy that it worked out against an opponent who is seasoned, who can play, who can serve, who has a lot of big shots. So it was a nice test to come through.

Q. A lot of talk about the noise under the roof. How do you deal with that? Are you someone who is thrown off by that?
VENUS WILLIAMS: You know, there was a lot of noise last year, as well, so perhaps I'm a little bit used to it. Over time you start to forget about the noise, after maybe like a set. So I think as a player, the higher the stakes, the less you hear.

I guess people are having some great conversations about tennis out there (smiling).

Q. Would you be able to play tennis to the best of your ability if it was an NBA-type crowd buzz? Do you thrive on the quiet?
VENUS WILLIAMS: There's something very special about tennis in the quiet. There's that tension that everybody feels, the sound of the ball, the sound of the footwork is very special in sports. I do enjoy the quiet. Especially the more important the moment, that silence says it all. I don't think it should go away, personally.

Q. Talk about the different perspective of being able to not only be here, but be here and be a real competitive force after 18 years? It is remarkable.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Thank you. I'm grateful that I can still play the game I want to play right now. As an athlete, as a tennis player, that's what you want. You want to be out there and play the game you want to play. If you get to the point where you can't do that, that's where you need to start to think, Okay, I need to move on. I'm not at that point yet, and hopefully I'll be able to play the game I want to play right until the last day that I'm done.

Q. You always said how much you love playing the US Open. Do you relish it all the more this many years later? Talk about the way you perceive these opportunities now as opposed to five years ago, eight years ago.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Just to feel the crowd get behind me, even in moments like 2-1, they really want me to hold serve. That feels amazing.

I really enjoyed those moments today when the crowd was like, Get it back, get it back. That felt nice.

You don't necessarily get that everywhere you go. So playing at home under these circumstances in a big tournament, it feels nice.

Q. One can say the two greatest arenas in tennis are Centre Court and Ashe. It's sort of interesting that Centre Court is so serene, quiet, while here it's totally the opposite. As an athlete who has been out there many times, talk about the two.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Are we talking about Centre Court at Wimbledon?

Q. Centre Court at Wimbledon.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's a completely different atmosphere, for sure. But every tournament's different. That's what the challenge is, being able to play in different environments, on different surfaces, and can you still overcome it and conquer it. This is not an easy tournament to win because of the environment here. It takes a lot for people to adjust and get used to it.

So being able to come through in this event shows that you have character.

Q. I've heard that you don't allow sugar in your diet anymore. Is that true?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no, yeah.

Q. Has it helped you with your endurance? Have you seen any changes?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I feel it's helping or else I would start eating it again. Eating sugar is really fun (smiling). As long as it's working, I'll be off of it.

Q. How important do you think it is for especially the top players in the men's or women's game to be part of the player-led organizations that have a voice on tour? Not necessarily hot-button topics but everyday stuff that the tour has to go through to make sure it works.
VENUS WILLIAMS: It's very important because you have to have the player voice working alongside the tournament voices, the different organizations, and everyone who has a vested interest in the game.

How the tournament sees things will be different from the players, so we can all come together and create something amazing. I see it as a partnership more than anything.

Q. What do the top players offer? What sort of point of view do they have that lower-ranked players don't have?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Everyone faces different issues depending on your ranking. That's why there's different levels of representation in the council. It's important for every voice to be heard.

I personally try to represent the group that I'm in, but I also try to be open-minded for the other groups and what they need, too.

Q. Back to the sugar thing, was that a recommendation from the doctors because of your ailment?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No. It was just something that I wanted to try. Like I always said, I'm always trying something different to find a peak performance, something I started recently.

Q. What do you miss the most on that diet?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Honestly, I don't. I can fit in my clothes, I feel good. When you're having results, you don't really miss the past. But if it's not working and you still feel the same, it's like, Why not go back?

Q. (Question about women in journalism.)
VENUS WILLIAMS: I've never thought about that. I think there's a lot of women journalists. I haven't been exposed to this side of the room, it's been more this side, so it's hard for me to comment on that and what the journalism world is like for women. That's something I don't know a lot about.

Q. Today was the first day session with the roof. You also played the second-ever match on Ashe in 1997. Do you remember anything at all from all those years ago?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah, I was dreadfully nervous. It was so tough. But I just remember getting real comfortable by the time I lost the first set 6-1 or 6-0 or something. I felt like, okay, now I'm ready to play.

Obviously winning that match was a huge step in my career.

Q. I think it's the first time in six years that you've been seeded in the top 10. Did you know that? Does it matter? How do you feel about it?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, it's nice, clearly, when you put the work in to see the numbers go up. I like that. But also there have been times when I didn't win matches against players that I felt like I should have. I was ranked higher or lower or whatever.

At the end of the day, I want to get to the next round no matter what I'm ranked.

I never focused a ton on my ranking throughout my whole career. While I like being highly ranked, it's more important for me to win matches. If I win matches, I'll be highly ranked. That sort of thing.

Q. When you first came out on tour, you wore some pretty basic outfits. Here at the Open, you've appeared in this stunning dress. Can you talk about your evolution in terms of your sense of aesthetics, beauty and knowledge of fashion, how it's changed over the years.
VENUS WILLIAMS: That's an interesting question. Oh, man.

Everybody likes to think that they have good taste their whole life. I look back and say, Boy, I had bad taste back in the day. There were times I had questionable things happening, especially off the court. But I was a teenager and I was innocent, definitely. It was okay to look a little bit off.

But for sure I think at this point I know who I am and I know what I want to look like on the court. That translates also to what I design and how my line looks. It has a statement. It's very bold, very confident. It's about creating your own path.

Q. Talk about the color.
VENUS WILLIAMS: A lot of prints are inspired by, like, watercolors because it's one of my favorite mediums. You'll see that motif happening. This collection is called Prism. We're making all the colors you would see when you look through a prism of light, all the colors of the rainbow.

Q. People talk about your age, ask about it pretty much every interview. Does that ever get annoying or boring?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I've had some crazy questions in my life. If I don't like the question, I'll let people know. People are probably intrigued that myself and a number of other players are playing quality tennis at this age. It's something that never happened before. Inquiring minds want to know, I guess.

I guess 36 is the new 26.

Q. You still come to net a lot as part of your game. The players you play against might only come to the net if you force them to. Do you ever think it's odd that everybody still hits net shots in warmups, or do you think it's still a good thing to practice?
VENUS WILLIAMS: You may have a point there (laughter).

Some people come in just to shake hands and do the coin toss. I'm not one of those people. I like to try to get in. It's more challenging getting to the net these days. The courts are slow. If you don't come in on the right one, you're going to get killed.

We play with equipment that's very advanced, that people can hit shots from everywhere. It's not as easy to get to the net as now. You really have to be able to volley, come in on a good shot. Even I want to come in, but I have to be selective.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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