THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 28, 1999

Venus Williams

VERONIQUE MARCHAL: Questions for Venus.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I really don't remember at this point. I guess I came apart there. I guess Serena was playing better tennis. She stopped missing as many balls. I started missing more balls. Tough to say. I lost it.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I would definitely say there's no chance because Serena always comes back and defeats people. I didn't want to become another victim. So it was all I could do to hold her off.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I felt good. I felt kind of good coming in. I was making my shots. I didn't feel any pressure at all. I think the only match that I was feeling pressure on was against Anke Huber. I was just pretty ill, so. It wasn't easy at all.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Serena is a great player. Of course, there's great satisfaction because she takes players down left and right. So to survive such an onslaught is just great.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I look across the net and see her all the time, no.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's not too big. In the end, we go home, we live life. You have to be happy after that, so. You have to remind yourself it's a game, and there's only one winner. Of course, next week there will be another opportunity. That's how I feel.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. Maybe I'll just keep that for me.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, it's tough when you lose a match in the final, it's a tough match. It's tough for anyone, no matter what happens. Serena wants to win. She always wants to win. That's her personality.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, what actually happened was we woke up like at eight. We didn't hit till like 11. We didn't practice at all. We were playing around, joking. We didn't practice too hard. We didn't even hit serves. I gave Serena some overheads. It was my turn to hit some overheads. I hit one bad one. I said, Give me one more and I'll be done. We left. We didn't even hit in the afternoon like we planned. We knew we were playing each other. We were going to give ourselves the best effort.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I already knew Serena was going to pick up her game. It's a trend. Serena just doesn't play a whole match bad. She usually plays every match very well. If she happens to start out slow, she always makes herself pick it up, no matter what the circumstances are. That's how she's going to play.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't think it fell apart. I just think I happened to win that game. It was great to win that game. I had to serve it out. I guess I played a tough game there. I had to if I wanted to win at that point, unless I wanted to go to 5-All, which wouldn't have been very good tidings for me against Serena.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. Serena and I, we've been doing a lot. Maybe you aren't.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, I was ready. I have great hands. We play doubles all the time. I really didn't know where the ball was going, so I just wish I could have got it back. It's too late now.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know what happened. I just didn't win the point. I do know that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I was ready to play.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's just a competition, two players, two great players. That's how I felt.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I usually never miss overheads. But today I remember I had one overhead. One of the main problems for me is I'm so tall that if it's not high enough, it's going to hit my racquet. It's quite odd. Then there's another one, Serena hit it up so high.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah. I just have to hit it. If you don't hit it, it's your own double-fault.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. Come on.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've only designed a warm-up suit. But I will have some of my designs at the US Open. I find it very exciting. It's my career choice. It's a great thing. I enjoy fashion.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I really don't think so. I don't think either of us had pressure on us at all. I just think we went out there and started playing.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Probably not.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I teach her everything I can. I know that I'm a good player. I believe in my game. When you play someone, you just have to worry about what you're doing. If you worry about what they're doing, it's going to be a little more tougher. But I do everything I can to make Serena the best player that she can be and that I can be.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Perhaps. Perhaps. I like to use that word, too. I think Serena and I, we both wanted to win. Serena wanted to win this title. I guess it would have been her largest title. This is my largest title. I haven't been able to excel at any Grand Slams yet. We both wanted to win.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I couldn't see the sign. My eyes aren't that good.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't see anything wrong with it.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Things could always be better in my eyes. I could have played better. Serena could have played better. It's what happened. It was good enough. It was two hours.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Basically, yes. We'll be in a lot of the same tournaments. We still take days off and time off, weeks off. We're nice to ourselves, in other words.

VENUS WILLIAMS: If I was always aware of who my opponent was, obviously I am aware. Gee, I was trying to compete for points. That's all in the end. That's all I was trying to do.