THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 25, 2022

Serena Williams

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Tell us how it feels to be back at Wimbledon.

SERENA WILLIAMS: It feels good to be back at Wimbledon. A little surreal sitting here again (smiling). It's like, Didn't I just do this?

It's nice to be here.

Q. Good to see you.

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's been a long time.

Q. I wanted to ask, how close did you come to maybe not returning, retiring, from tennis? What was the factors that made you decide to return?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I didn't retire. I just needed to heal physically, mentally. And, yeah, I had no plans, to be honest. I just didn't know when I would come back. I didn't know how I would come back.

Obviously Wimbledon is such a great place to be, and it just kind of worked out.

Q. Just wondering what the experience of Eastbourne taught you about your kind of state of readiness. How different is it, the sparring session you had yesterday on Centre Court, to playing doubles with Ons?

SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, Eastbourne was a good experience. I went into this saying, you know, I'd play Eastbourne. I would never be ready for singles, I'll just kind of play doubles and see how I felt. Definitely probably could have played singles there.

But the doubles was great. Played with Ons, who has been playing well. And it was good. I felt more prepared than I thought I would like a month or two months or three months ago. Way, way more. So it was kind of surprising, but also it's just a fun time, just to be out there and to enjoy it. I don't know, just to be out on the court again was cool.

Q. When did you make the decision to play Wimbledon?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know exactly when, but it was some time ago.

Q. A week? A month?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Definitely not weeks. It was before the French, so... Yeah, I think. I hope.

Q. Just wondering since we didn't get to speak to you after, what was your experience of Wimbledon last year, how difficult was that, then trying to play the US Open? You mentioned healing mentally as well. Was that difficult at all?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, Wimbledon was tough last year. I felt like last year was tough. I felt like I was injured for most of the year. Then I ripped my hamstring. That was tough. I don't think anyone ever wants to do that. So in general the whole experience was rough.

Then from there I still tried to make New York. I gave everything I could, just every day getting ready or trying to make it. But then it's just like, I'm not going to make it. Hung up my racquets for a little bit until I could just heal.

It's a tough injury actually to have what I had last year. It was no fun.

Q. You've spoken often about Serena Ventures, what you've been doing off the court. Over this last year where you haven't played, how much more have you enjoyed that side of it, the major movie release, the Oscars, the Met Gala? How much more have you enjoyed that aspect and side of your life compared to the tennis side?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's been totally different honestly. A part of me feels like that is a little bit more of my life now than tournaments (smiling).

When you do have a venture company, you do have to go all in. It definitely takes literally all my extra time. And it's fun. I'm currently out of office for the next few weeks, so if you email me, you'll get the nice 'out of office' reply (laughter). Everyone knows that I'll be back in a few weeks. But it's good.

I absolutely love what I do. I love investing in companies.

And then the Oscars was really fun, just the whole like tour of that whole moment was incredible to be a part of such an amazing movie. It was something that you don't think about. At best you think of winning Grand Slams, not being nominated for an Oscar for a film that you produce. So it was pretty awesome.

Q. My question sort of follows on from that actually. You were linked with one of the consortiums trying to buy Chelsea Football Club. Has it piqued your interest in maybe buying another football club or one of our other great sporting institutions?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm an investor. Whenever an opportunity comes, I'll always have a piqued interest, and particular in sports. I think I always have a natural love for sport.

Q. What would you consider as a success for you personally here in Wimbledon? Also, when you said 'mentally', mental health has gotten a bigger topic in tennis due to Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu statements. What do you think about it? Would you maybe have wished for 10, 15 years ago that it would be that way?

SERENA WILLIAMS: So I forgot the first question, but I can definitely do the second, I think (smiling).

I don't know. I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't go through and get through what I got through. I love who I am. I wouldn't trade it for anything. So yeah.

But there's oftentimes that I think subconsciously I'd take breaks. I never played as much as the next player throughout my whole career. I think that was all subconscious, me taking care of myself and knowing how to take care of myself.

A lot of people have to learn that. I think that was something that my parents built into me. Like, it was already programmed in me. It was just something that I always naturally did.

Q. The first question was: What would be a good outcome for you at the tournament?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, yes. You know the answer to that (smiling).

Q. I tried.

SERENA WILLIAMS: C'mon now.

Q. Similar question. What are your goals and expectations for The Championships?

SERENA WILLIAMS: You guys know the answer to that, so...

I don't know. I have high goals, but also -- I don't know. We'll see. I'm not going to answer that.

Q. Yesterday was a big day in our culture with the decision about Roe v. Wade. I wanted to know if you had any thoughts on that you wanted to share with the public.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think that's a very interesting question.

I don't have any thoughts that I'm ready to share right now on that decision.

Q. An issue closer to the tennis is Wimbledon's decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus, including friends of yours who won't be here. What are your thoughts about that and the tour's response regarding the points?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Another heavy subject that involves a tremendous amount of politics, from what I understand, and government.

I'm going to step away from that.

Q. Is this your final Wimbledon or do you think you'll come back next year?

SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, I don't know. I can only tell you that I'm here. Who knows where I'll pop up next. You just got to be ready.

Q. This is the first time in 10 or 11 years you won't have Patrick as part of your team here. Can you explain what happened with him and what it feels like to not have him here?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, my. I didn't even think about it.

I don't know. It feels good. I'm having a wonderful time here. And I just didn't even think about it.

Q. What do you make of the decision to allow practice now on the Centre Court considering that you had your injury due to slipping last year on Centre Court?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It was interesting. You know, in one hand it's amazing, but on the other hand it's like, Ah, well, we have to preserve Centre Court.

Obviously I was super happy to be out there and have that opportunity, and it was also good for me to, like, get that out of my system because the last moment I had on Centre Court was probably not my best moment.

So I think overall it was good, but it's just different. It's totally different for someone like me that's been around for so long.

Q. What are your thoughts on Rafael Nadal and what he's accomplished in 2022?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, he's done a lot in 2022. He's been busy.

I've always been a Rafa fan. I named my dog after him, so... He's so cute (smiling). I miss the little guy.

So obviously I'm always rooting for Rafa. Yeah, he's been really inspiring in everything that he's done this year. And he has a lot more to do.

Q. I wanted to ask you, you could have been drawn to the No. 1 Iga Swiatek. You had a more comfortable draw. Did you want to have a more challenging game as a first game to get on track back again or do you prefer something more easier than progressing?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Every match is hard. Every match. You can't underestimate anyone or any match any day. Anyone could have been drawn to me.

Q. I'm curious, how much motivation was it to have a different memory than the one you had last year here on this court?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was a lot of motivation, to be honest. It was always something since the match ended that was always on my mind. So it was a tremendous amount of motivation for that.

Q. Did it drive you during training and recovery sessions to have a different memory?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Absolutely. You never want any match to end like that. It's really unfortunate.

But it was definitely something that's always been on the top of my mind.

Thank you.