US OPEN

August 31, 1997

Venus Williams

Q. Joannette says you're confident. She said she's never seen such self-confidence.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm glad she sees that in me.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Wait a minute. Are you talking about passing on the court?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Okay.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I smiled at her at one of the changeovers?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. It was an amused look.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I really wasn't smiling. I was (indicating). Why don't you guys tell me what they want me to do? They should come up to me and say, "Venus, I want you to smile so I can feel better." It's not about that. When I want to smile, I'll smile. If I don't want to, I'm not going to. I think it's a little bit peevish. Smiling, what does that have to do with anything?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't care. They have feelings and they can feel whatever way they want to, but I don't want to be part of it.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes. Because I just kind of feel that I can make any shot anywhere on the court. That's just the way I feel.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I didn't.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think it was much tougher, but I wasn't cracking, no. She definitely pulled her game together, definitely started taking her time a little bit more on the shots, getting them a little bit deeper, placing them a little bit better. So I was running over the court more in the second set. I guess I didn't think she would start playing that well, so I just had to get ready for that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I always felt that way. I always felt that I could beat like the men players. My parents could never get me to understand that I couldn't. I was like, "Look at my backhand, it's better than theirs." Finally they stopped trying to convince me I wasn't better. I guess they thought, "If she thinks that, it's better."

VENUS WILLIAMS: That's me in general, yeah.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think it's important that others recognize the confidence in me or believe in me. What's important is that I'm confident about me, and that I believe in me. What others believe is kind of an outside influence, outside. If I don't have confidence, then it doesn't matter if the other person has confidence in me.

VENUS WILLIAMS: That's her state of mind.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. You'd have to ask them.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Not sharing those today.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think I've improved a lot more because I've actually in between this US Open. I've learned to take my time on a lot of shots. Actually, today I started going back to my old way a little bit in the second set, rushing things, behind the baseline hitting balls as hard as I can. These things do not work. So I must change.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. I cannot go back to that and I will not revert to that type of playing. This US Open has really helped. I'm taking my time a lot more on the shots. I'm serving much more consistently. I really want to mix up my serve as lot, a lot of free points on serves. I'm playing better at the US Open. I'm playing well, improving. But then when I get to a matches, I'm not playing well. What's the point of playing good if you're not going to play good in a match? I had to improve on that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's like if you're just going to pound every ball, everybody is going to get used to it and say, "I'm going to block it back and let her wear herself out." I'll get tired at times after I play a lot of matches, but it doesn't generally affect my play. I live in Florida. It's extremely hot; the wind will not blow; it's extremely humid. Even the dogs don't get up. I'm out there playing on the hardcourt, okay? I can stay out there. I had to realize I had to mix it up, take some pace off, lift it over. Sometimes you would serve a ball, I would lift it over the net, she would just miss it. A lot of times -- a lot of other times in the past, I would nail the return in the net.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. It was actually before my third round match. I really couldn't believe it. I was saying, "Venus, this isn't me." I just learned a lot in this tournament.

VENUS WILLIAMS: She's making some mistakes on her forehand when I played her. I would serve to her forehand. She would just make some unforced errors.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Not really. Sometimes she would make mistakes, I would go to it two or three times, then I would go to the other side. But generally I didn't play both sides because she definitely had solid groundstrokes; she knows how to pick her game back up. I just had to play.

VENUS WILLIAMS: What do you mean by "milestone"? In my life? An important event in your playing history. I suppose so. I guess it is important, I've got into the quarterfinals.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I try to go into every tournament and think that I'm going to win. That's what I used to do. Now I more or less try to play every point at a time. I don't want to try to think too far ahead in the future, because that really doesn't work, I don't think.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's been a lot of fun, except for that day when it rained and I had to wait here all day. Other than that, things have been good.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I like it. I always liked it. I liked it when I was little when I wasn't professional. I always liked to play on big courts in front of people. It's kind of my asset.

VENUS WILLIAMS: The fact that the audience was for me?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've actually never played in an audience that wasn't for me. One day, the day will come when they are going to be for the other player. I'll be prepared for that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I think I'll be able to tell you guys on the day they're rooting for the other player.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I'm definitely playing well. I've learned a lot from the matches that I've played. I know how to play. That's good enough.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Gotten to the quarterfinals in the second week.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Does it mean more than that? It means I better be ready for the next match.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I guess for some people it does; not for me. I know I can play this type of tennis. But for some people, critics, writers, all those type of things, it validates it for them. But I try not to read that stuff and listen to the stuff, because it can get to you. Some people are not necessarily negative, but they say Venus is a big question mark, things like that. You don't really want to read that. Oh, no, I better play better. That's not the kind of thoughts you want in your head, so I kind of try to stay away from them.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I really wasn't going to play the Open up until four days before. My dad wasn't going to let me play. But I finally convinced him.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Why not? A lot of different reasons. I don't really want to go into that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: A little bargaining. Hard ball, you know.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. I'm just glad I got a chance to play. I think my dad is, too. But even if I didn't do well, I think I'd be glad I got a chance to play.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Do I like the idea that I'm becoming an?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't consider myself an idol. I don't consider anyone an idol, too far on a pedestal. But a role model is definitely a good thing.

VENUS WILLIAMS: In a single word? Those are the good questions, but it's just like you don't think of that in everyday living.

VENUS WILLIAMS: You could say that. Things have definitely changed over this Open. I've learned to take some pace off the ball, which I really was not good at before.

VENUS WILLIAMS: They knew what we were doing; we didn't. That's just all it was. Serena and I, we thought we were going to win, we were confident and all, but we just lacked the practice. We didn't practice for the doubles. It's just the last time we played doubles and we did so well, we just thought we were going to hold down, I guess. We learned from our mistakes, so we're going to pull it together. The girls, they knew how to play doubles. We really didn't know how. Definitely after yesterday's loss -- I didn't think I would do bad in the singles. I knew that I just don't know how to play doubles that well. That's all that was. We could play, but.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm excited, I have to stay calm and get ready for the next match. I'm going to play one of two players who are playing well. Testud is doing well this year, definitely has picked up her game. She's feeling confident. Habsudova, I don't know too much about her. She's in the Round of 16, so she's definitely been doing something.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Maybe when I go places, maybe all the restaurants. Good to eat somewhere different every day. When we go overseas, kind of scared to eat different foods. Finally got over it now. We would eat like Chinese every day in England and France. In England, we had fish and chips. Other than that, I mean, it's not the way I would have cooked it (laughter).

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's just that it wasn't seasoned the way I would do it. I would have did it differently. Of course, I don't cook unless I'm forced to. There's a hunger strike going on, my mom won't cook. Doesn't take as much as it used to. I guess I don't cook because I don't want to clean.

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