EVERT CUP

March 7, 1999

Serena Williams

SERENA WILLIAMS: I definitely see myself in the Top 10, but, right now, I'm not looking at that. I'm just trying to play every match for match, do the best I can. I know if I'm playing well, doing the best that I can do, I'm definitely going to be in the Top 10, and probably the Top 5 if not better.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, it was good for me. I wasn't hitting that well. I mean, there weren't that many balls going back in play. I was really mentally focused, and I really was mentally there. It was a good win for me.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. It was really good for me to win that tournament last week because I really was able to see that I can go out there and I can win. I don't know. I really practiced really hard for the last -- since the end of last year and the beginning of this year, I was really practicing hard and really focused. My hard work is beginning to pay off.

SERENA WILLIAMS: There's always a time in the match where you say, "Hey, this is mine, I'm going to take it." I did see it. But I was really just focused on playing point for point.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I mean, it was -- I don't know, it was probably in the second set I realized. Actually, during the first set I realized. Let me rewind, take that back. Before I went out there, I was out there with a positive mind because I had beat Lindsay before. I knew that she was going to be ready. She was probably going to attack the weaker part of my game. She was going to try a lot of things. But I knew that I could do well. I knew that I had a chance.

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's easy for me. It was the same. It's the same surface kind of to me. It's all the same, all hard. I don't have a problem with any surface I play on.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Were they? I had no problem with the wind or any of those factors.

SERENA WILLIAMS: That was really tough. I had no idea I was going to slide. Maybe my shoe wasn't so solid (laughter). Actually, I got a little burn, but it's okay now. It's okay.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know. It was tough for me because the whole crowd wanted her to win. They were really for her and against me. I think I had so much fight in me, I was determined, that I just couldn't lose. I was up 4-1. I actually should have closed it out at 6-2 or 6-3 at the most. But she really came fighting, roaring back. She hit a lot of unbelievable winners. I think what really turned it, I just wouldn't -- I just had a lot of fight in me.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I definitely think it was. I really didn't want to lose, especially after being up, I didn't want to get a bad rep or anything, I have a rep to keep.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, we're definitely looking forward to going to different tournaments in the future because it's better for us. We get to see a different environment, et cetera. Right now, we are just trying to play different tournaments, do a lot of different things, see how it turns out for us. We played a lot of the same tournaments for us last year. It didn't work. Something is not working, let's try something different. That's what we're doing.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, there's some tournaments that Venus just didn't want to play. I think I actually said this so many times now. There's some tournaments that I didn't want to play. I just don't like the tournaments. I just didn't want to go, but Venus wanted to go. I was like, "Hey, I'll play doubles there, why don't you just take play singles." If I don't like the tournament, I don't want to be at the tournament; I want to take a week off; she likes the tournament; she'll just play it. I'm actually tired of answering that question. Let's move on.

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's a great advantage. Last week, could have been two weeks now, when everyone was saying that Mauresmo hits the ball so hard, I was hitting against Venus all my life, and she really hits the ball hard. When I played Mauresmo, she did hit it hard, but I was so used too to it, it was like, "Hey, I can handle this." It was definitely a good thing for me. WTA: Any other questions? No (laughter).