NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 29, 2005

Venus Williams

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Venus, please.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Thank you.

VENUS WILLIAMS: You know, I kept my errors down. I think the first set for me was fantastic. The second set I feel like I definitely lost some opportunities, but that was okay with me because I wanted to -- I just felt it was good to have those tests at the same time, even though I would have liked to have held serve when I got the first break in the second and all those kinds of things, when I had all those points to win games. But, you know, of course credit to Serena. It's not like she gave me that many points. Especially when she got down, big first serve, great approach shot. I definitely had my hands full.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I mean, we've played some huge matches. I mean, we played two-and-a-half hour matches in Grand Slam finals. This one definitely is a highlight, sure.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, her racquet is actually fragile. It's powerful but fragile. Mine is not fragile, so I can tap mine a bit harder. But hers goes no matter what. She is definitely a little bit more fiery than I am. I kind of keep an even keel. It's just the way I am.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I played some good matches in Antwerp, but I'm definitely feeling a lot more comfortable, better rhythm now. I'm just really dedicated to doing the right thing on the court. When I make a mistake, I'm just trying to correct them. If I don't move forward, then the next one I make sure I move forward whether I win or lose the point. Just little things like that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: She definitely picked up her serve, she picked up her speed. She had some great dropshots. Like I said, I definitely needed that. I definitely need to get to the point, too, as soon as I break, I hold like normal and just close it out. That's the way Serena and I both play under normal circumstances.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I wasn't really nervous. I just am trying to play the ball. Yeah, definitely felt nice. Obviously, I had a pretty big match, I guess, in Australia - I guess for Australians. For the rest of the world, probably not. I didn't play too well in that match, and I was extremely disappointed. Not in the fact that I lost, but in the fact how I played. But at that time I tried my best with what I had, and I feel like I got a little more right now.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just, you know, am training harder. Not that I wasn't training hard, but just keep going at it, getting better, just like every other player.

VENUS WILLIAMS: You think?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. Just I went for it on both sides, I guess.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think it will be a good match, I guess. Not too many thoughts. When I get out there, I tell you what, I'm gonna do me. That's all I'm gonna do. Just keep it real.

VENUS WILLIAMS: To be honest, for me, it's a given because I feel like I have the talent and the experience. And obviously maybe it hasn't been exactly as I would have planned it, but these things happen. So for me, I just feel like (inaudible) is a matter of time.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I never felt like I played my best. I think there's one tournament where I felt like I played my very best, and even when I hit it wrong it went in. One tournament in my whole career.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I played Hamburg in - I don't know, 2001 or 2002, something like that. I don't remember now. But one tournament in my whole career, so... You have to be willing to die on the court whether you're playing good or bad, basically. It's not about whether you're playing your best, it's about you're going to do the right thing at the right time. So that's the player who usually wins, whoever does the right thing.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know, it's been so long. So much has happened between this match and the last match. I just feel like in the last matches, Serena always played better. There were times, I guess, when I probably had chances and I couldn't do it or whatever that may have been. But she won them, and I was happy at least there was a Williams on it. That's what would matter to me, and that there was two Williamses in the final. I'm quite selfish about those kind of things. Obviously, I would have loved to have won those matches. For me, it's like the past now.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Obviously, that was my goal, is straight sets. But if there was a third set, I would have been just as focused and ready. But my focus was definitely on that second set, on closing it out there.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I felt like they were definitely into it. That was nice. The yells, that was cool.