THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 28, 1999

Serena Williams

VERONIQUE MARCHAL: Questions.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I guess you guys had a lot more emotions than what Venus and I did. I mean, I really wasn't that emotionally involved today, so, not necessarily.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I mean, especially after a little while, you want to win. You're thinking, "I can win." You're not thinking about who's actually over there. You're actually just thinking about you being the player. I looked over at her sometimes, and I didn't consider her Venus or my sister; I just considered her an opponent.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, really tried to come out with a different plan because obviously my plan wasn't working and she was getting a lot of balls back, forcing me to hit the errors trying to go for a better shot. But I really tried -- even if the first game of the second set, I tried something different. And it was working, but just not in that game. But I knew if I kept doing it, then I would be able to come through.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, sure I'm glad it's over. I wouldn't want to still be out on the court right now. I think I'd be lying down. Venus would have to come over and help me up. So, yeah, sure. I'm definitely looking forward to another final with Venus. It's great to play her in the final because it's like what we've always dreamed of. Always dreamed of seeing her on the other side of the net instead of someone else. So now that my game is taken to a different level, I'm playing better, winning more matches, it's going to happen more.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I realized that when I first walked out there and hit the first warm-up ball. I realized, "Hey, this is not a practice match." I never even thought of it as a practice match. Maybe you did, but I didn't.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I think she brings out just me having to hit a lot more shots because she gets a lot of balls back. And I have to really, really play a lot of shots. Usually I hit -- usually, like against Martina Hingis, she's a pretty fast player, too, but not like Venus. Venus is not only fast, but she just has a long reach. Even if she doesn't hit a good shot, she'll just get it back.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Venus just said -- I don't remember. I just shook her hand, yeah. You mean directly after the match during the handshake or later on?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Usually when I play people, I just say, "Good job."

SERENA WILLIAMS: No. Maybe she said something I don't remember, but no.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think I just really made a lot of errors, like eight or nine. That was really out of control there. I should have got more balls in play and just played better. I went for too much, too soon. Maybe I should have tried coming to the net or just do something a little different.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Not necessarily, no. You have to know when you're playing Venus, she's a great player. You have to know when you're playing me, I'm a great awesome player, too.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, I definitely didn't play very well at all. I was making way too many errors. Seems like I couldn't keep many balls in play. It just wasn't the same Serena like the rest of my 16 matches.

SERENA WILLIAMS: When I'm playing someone, I don't think about who I'm playing. I'm just playing the ball. I'm not playing my opponent. Doesn't matter who I play, when I play them, where I play them. I wasn't necessarily thinking, "Oh, I'm playing Venus." No, I wasn't thinking that.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Really?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I guess so. I guess he had his reasons to why he was almost to tears. He's worked so hard with Venus and I since I was four and Venus was five, or whatever. I mean, he's done so much for us. Just to see us succeed like this, in his dreams, it must be a very emotional time for him and my mom. It's really amazing for him seeing us grow and just grooming us into champions. It must be a great feeling for him. So I can imagine.

SERENA WILLIAMS: What do you mean "out of the ordinary"?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't consider it that big. I guess it is. I don't know.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I didn't really hit many shots, that's why I didn't have many fist pumps. If I had hit some great shots, things might have been different for me. Maybe for Venus, it might have been different. I don't know what the stats are, but I don't remember too many winners throughout the match.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I guess in a way it is because she knows my game very well. I know her game extremely well. When you play an opponent that knows exactly what you're going to do, the exact moves you're going to make, it's going to be tough definitely.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm trying to decide if I should do a story on Serena or Venus. I'm not sure.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't understand what you're --.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Like before the final?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, okay. I didn't understand that.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Can you repeat the question, please (laughter)?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know. I guess so. We try to do a lot of things alike. We like to go to the same places a lot. It's just going to depend on how the draw is picked sometimes. It so happens at this tournament that we were picked on different sides of the draw.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I can't necessarily say that our relationship is going to be affected by tennis. We have a strong background, we're Jehovah's Witnesses, we really believe that family comes first, not a game that's going to last ten years at the most. I don't know if I'm going to be playing ten years. It can last. Why would I want that to become between someone who has always been around, always been a very special friend for me. I couldn't imagine that. I definitely don't think she could either. I don't think, no matter how many times we play each other, I could never say that it would affect my relationship with Venus.