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US OPEN

September 7, 2019

Serena Williams

New York, NY, USA

B. ANDREESCU/S. Williams

6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I would imagine this would be disappointing, but was this more about you or about her tonight?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Definitely disappointing. It's definitely a little bit of both. I felt like I could have done so many things a little bit better. But she played really well, and she deserves this championship.

Q. With respect to style of play and the way both of you battled, what similarities do you see between the two of you?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think we're really similar in terms of we both are fighters and we both are really intense. I feel like we both enjoy what we do, but at the same time - it's hard to describe - super intense with what we do.

Q. Obviously you're a battler, been through ups and downs before. How will you regroup here and continue to chase that record?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm not necessarily chasing a record. I'm just trying to win Grand Slams. It's definitely frustrating, you know. But for the most part I just am still here. I'm still doing what I can do.

Q. You were down 5-2 in the second set. You started to win a game, won another game. What was going through your mind at that point in the match?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I was just thinking, honestly at that point, Wow, this is terrible. Like you got to play better. I have to do better.

I just couldn't go down like that, so I just wanted to play a little bit better.

Q. Your resolve and congratulations seemed genuine. Are these losses starting to have less impact on you?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know how to answer that.

Q. You congratulated your opponent.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I always congratulate my opponent, yeah.

Q. The losses, are they having less impact?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Absolutely not. I definitely can say that I'm not really happy, but I have to, like, take it one moment at a time.

I honestly didn't play my best today. I could have played better. That's the only solace that I can take right now.

Q. She brings a lot of versatility and competitive intensity. What impressed you the most about her game today?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, today I thought she brought more intensity than versatility. I didn't give her too much opportunity to have versatility.

I love Bianca. I think she's a great girl. But I think this was the worst match I've played all tournament.

It's hard to know that you could do better. It's just taking it, whatever. I don't even know what to say.

Q. It's been about an hour since the match. What have you been thinking in that sense?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I was thinking, Okay, Serena, you didn't miss a serve, you lost serve maybe twice in the whole tournament, and you didn't hit a first serve in today, so...

That was obviously on my mind, like how do I play at a level like this in a final? Again, I think Bianca obviously played well. I think her returns make me play better and puts pressure on my serve. At the same time it's inexcusable for me to play at that level.

Q. You played in a lot of Grand Slam finals. I don't know if you remember your first Grand Slam final. It was Bianca's first. Were you surprised how composed she seemed to be? You could say she was playing in hostile territory, everybody cheering for you. She seemed to come out ready to play. Was that surprising to you at all? Were you impressed by that?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I felt like Bianca plays well under pressure. She played really well at Indian Wells. She was definitely not a favorite there, but she goes out and she plays hard. She does what she does best, and that's move up to the ball, that's hit winners, that's play with a ton of intensity.

I just feel like she did that really, really well today.

Q. Having deep runs, is that something you can appreciate now or will you take a while? Can you talk about overall what you're doing and how you do inspire people with the effort you put in?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Thank you. I feel like in 20 years, I definitely will be like, Wow, that wasn't so bad (smiling). It's very hard right now in the moment to, like, take this and say, It didn't work out for you today, but it's really hard right now to take that moment in and to say you did okay, because I don't believe I did.

I believe I could have played better. I believe I could have done more. I believe I could have just been more Serena today.

I honestly don't think Serena showed up. I have to kind of figure out how to get her to show up in Grand Slam finals.

Q. The moment is tough. You say you didn't play your best. For sure, you didn't, especially percentage of first serves. Some double-faults, unbelievable. But you came out losing to Kerber, Osaka and Halep in the finals. There you played really bad, I think.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, okay.

Q. I'd like to know if this time when you come out after playing not as bad as in the past, is better for you because you say, At least I played, I tried my best? Or it was more difficult to accept the other defeats when you couldn't really fight as you wanted? Today you fought.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think today I definitely fought. I mean, Kerber doesn't count because, like, I was exhausted. My baby was eight months, and that's tough. But all of it honestly, truly is super frustrating. I'm, like, so close, so close, so close, yet so far away.

I don't know what to say. I guess I got to keep going if I want to be a professional tennis player. And I just got to just keep fighting through it.

Yeah, I definitely did better than I did against Halep.

Q. Last year you were excusing more yourself than today or not?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't understand that question. Excusing more myself?

Anyway, thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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