US OPEN

September 2, 1997

Venus Williams

Q. You were down 4-1 in the second and refused basically to give up the set. Talk about that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I was actually about two breaks down so I really had to concentrate, hold serve and break back. So I just had to concentrate there and I proceeded to win four games in a row. Then she won her serve; then I held serve; then I broke serve. I guess, the second set summary. I really didn't want to go three sets. I thought it was definitely plausible that I could come back and win that one.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I feel pretty good. Actually I really don't know how it feels. I think after the tournament is gone I have to settle in. I just kind of feel like I have played five matches and here I am in the semifinals.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, because --

VENUS WILLIAMS: With my arms up I am like, you know, couple more feet higher. So it kind of helped.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, I am feeling very happy. But, it is definitely a great accomplishment for my first Open.

VENUS WILLIAMS: My goal coming in was not to lose one bead during a match. (laughter) So I definitely didn't meet my goal and I am kind of upset on that. I am going to work harder in the next tournament.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't believe in omens, so that just definitely isn't a thing.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just wanted to mix it up, because a lot of times I could put in a lot of big serves and the girl can get into a rhythm blocking them back, which is simple to do at times. Sometimes she wasn't handling the spin that well. And I can put a lot of spin on a serve, so it is good to mix it up, see something different every time.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I think you would have to ask them, more or less. I really don't know what they are feeling out there.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know. I really haven't even thought about that. I mostly kind of just concentrate with my game, what I am going to work on during the match, during practice. So, I am not really thinking about what the other player is thinking. Sometimes it is important. You might notice that the player is tired or they are nervous, but, more or less, I am concentrating on what I am doing.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think she was a little bit nervous, always taking a lot of deep breaths. I, too, was taking deep breaths, which calms you down. But, I think that she does that a lot during her matches. So, it is kind of a regimen for her to do it between every point.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Actually, this match, I don't think I played as well. I think my best match was my third round match. I want to get back up to that level, but I definitely think I am playing okay. I have been playing pretty good.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Much better than I have in the past.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I have been speaking everyday to him, yeah, I have. When is the semifinals match? Is it Thursday?

VENUS WILLIAMS: So I have three days. I thought it would be Thursday.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I am going to eat (laughter).

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. Not fish and chips, come on. I am going to eat at the same places I do every time. I can eat somewhere -- I can eat the same thing for like a month. It is weird. I don't know. But, I am not going to do too much. My mom wants to see the Statue of Liberty, so we might do that. But, I don't know. It is kind of a job. It's a great job, of course, that I have, so I kind of concentrate on the job that I am doing and just try to do a lot of resting; not too much walking, because walking can be tiring around the city.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Not really. We live like in a crowded area. All New York is crowded, of course, but super crowded over by the Times Square, all types of things going on. So, I am really not going out as much now.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, and I don't really want to stop in the street, really. I really don't want to say no because I am really not a mean person, but I don't want to leave that impression not signing autographs....

VENUS WILLIAMS: To force the action. What action?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It used to be the time when the other person forced the mistake. And I was not quite able to understand that I didn't have to go for winners or I didn't have to always just expect to hit a winner. And, fortunately enough, I was able to understand this and in a small amount of time. A lot of people, it takes them years. And, it could have been four years later when I was 21. I would still be pretty young. But it is a long time in tennis so, I have been able to understand more or -- a lot quicker than a lot of people. And I am pretty happy about that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Flash what?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think it was third-round match actually. I never -- before that I really never took too much pace off the ball, a lot of hard balls and in that match, I think I just started doing it in practice automatically. Mostly because Serena does it quite a lot. She will take the pace off the ball and place it. I was not good at that. I kind of looked at her and learned it. It took me a while because she just takes advantage of me taking the pace off the ball and I had to learn -- I think I learned it from her.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it just clicked. Some things happen like that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Because it works and it is really not too big of a change. Change your game little bit, take some pace off the ball a little bit, makes sometimes your job a little bit easier. And, it wasn't something extremely drastic. Sometimes changing your toss can be drastic, or getting a deeper knee bend. It just kind of -- you have to change your timing, so something like that is drastic and is something I would wait on. But, taking the pace off the ball, placing it, I have been working on that and I wasn't able to get it too good. It just wasn't part of my game in the past.

VENUS WILLIAMS: You will have to ask my mom. I really don't want to answer that question. Just like fatigued of answering it, you know?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes, actually, it has been because a lot of people weren't quite sure about my game, I suppose. Because, obviously, I hadn't played that well in tournaments. I wasn't playing well when it came to matches. I wasn't playing as well as I could and I wasn't playing good matches, so people would say that Venus is a questionmark. They had the right to think that, I suppose. But I always knew that I could play well. So this is definitely probably a turning stone for other people.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, it really doesn't really matter to me. I am going to have to concentrate on my game more than what the person is thinking.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I don't have to -- I didn't feel as pressured to just hit a lot of great shots, to hit them on the line. I saw once I was getting them in play a lot of times, not slow balls, but just deep, well-placed, then it puts pressure on the other girl, on my opponent to do something better and that is the game that I really hadn't played before. So, it is definitely is working.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I can't use it too well against Serena. Serena -- there is fast and very fast and too fast for your own good health and she is on that level.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Right now we haven't played in a long time. But it definitely will be extremely close. We almost played actually in one tournament, but it didn't happen. Almost played in the first round, but it just didn't happen.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It is just going to be throat-to-throat, I guess. We both -- we have already discussed this and we said, you know, Serena says: "I am going to try to take you out." I say, "Serena, I am going to have to get you, too." So we definitely discussed it. We both are going to try to win when we play each other.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It was my beads. They fell out.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. They fell off, so I just gave them away.

VENUS WILLIAMS: They fell off on the court.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. They were so little. Thanks

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