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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 16, 2017

Venus Williams

Indian Wells, California

E. VESNINA/V. Williams

6-2, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how you feel having got this far and what it means for you to have done pretty well here this time around?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Of course winning rounds gives you the opportunity to be closer to the winner's circle. That's always the goal. It's never fun to fall short. But, you know, I gave my all.

Q. Your thoughts on that last game?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. It was a long game, a couple of long games. We both fought for it. Unfortunately, I didn't win it.

Q. I know you don't talk about injuries and all that stuff. Can you describe a little bit some of the bandaging and stuff going on, the challenges you faced this week?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, I had some issues. I mean, it's great to know that, you know, I can try to play through what I'm going through and be very competitive. I will try my best to be closer to 100% in the next tournament.

Q. Any long-term concern?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I have a lot of long-term concerns, FYI (smiling). That's never stopped me. I will keep trucking.

Q. You have had so much adversity in your life. You have made so many comebacks. Do you like that feeling when you have to just struggle back through adversity?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I want to win 6-0, 6-0. But it builds character and builds wonderful memories, of course.

I would just like to be healthy just like the next human being. You beat your body up in sport, and I want to play these big events. I don't want to be at home watching. It's frustrating either way, not to be 100% or to watch at home. Which one do you choose?

I chose to be here. That was my choice. I gave it my best today, and I'm looking forward to playing her again, hopefully healthy and 100%, and will have an opportunity to really show what I can do in these kind of matches.

Q. I think your fans will want to know what's wrong. Can you tell us?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I had some issues, and I'm going to get ready for next week.

Q. Just talk about the year you've had, that fabulous run in Melbourne, and then most people would say this has been a pretty darn good tournament for you. Just talk about the early part of the year. Give us a quarterly report.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, my gosh, yeah. It's great to play matches, and then you have the opportunity to work on your game and to see, okay, which areas can you fix. If you're not playing deeper into the events, you're not necessarily building that rhythm. So there are a lot of pluses to it.

No, I'm looking forward to getting my 50th title, so I think it's going to happen. It's -- yeah, God willing. When I put the work in, I think it's going to happen very soon.

Q. I have been closely observing a lot of the doggie action around here this week. How long did it take you to train your dog to just hop in your knapsack when you open it? That's a good trick.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Day one. He's a smart guy.

Q. Just like that?
VENUS WILLIAMS: When I first got him, he was in the bag. That's, like, his safe spot. If he's in the bag, he knows he's getting to go. He'll definitely get in.

Q. You said earlier this year that you have a good life, good family, good dog. You're happy. How much does the on-court results, winning and losing, affect your core happiness?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, work is important and, you know, satisfying work is a big part of life, and it is satisfying. Days like today are frustrating when I want to do more and can't do more or didn't do more.

But it's wonderful to be able to live my dream and work is -- you know, I try to separate it from my regular life, but it's sort of one and the same. Of course I look at the bigger picture and realize there is more important things than the yellow ball, but it's pretty up there.

Q. If you were to put together your thoughts for this tournament for the tennis monthly recap, what would your takeaway be?
VENUS WILLIAMS: A defunct publication. Bankrupt (smiling).

That's a good question. I was never meant to be a writer. I don't have the patience. So it would have to be -- it would now be a video blog, so that way I wouldn't have to write and proof and be correct grammatically.

Q. What would be some of the highlights of that reel?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Definitely some fun shots, good saves, and a lot of fighting and fist pumping. I'd add all that in there.

Q. Speaking of writers, we're always asking you one question after another, but if you were a writer and could ask any tennis player except for Serena a question, what question would you ask to...
VENUS WILLIAMS: Zip/zero idea. I'd probably be too shy and not ask any questions. I don't want to get yelled at by some player (smiling). Yeah, I'd probably be in the back scared to death.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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