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SONY ERICSSON CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 26, 2009

Venus Williams

DOHA, QATAR

ANDREW KRASNY: She's reached four singles finals this year and won titles at Dubai and Acapulco, the 40th and 41st singles titles of her incredible career. Her 41 singles titles are the most among active players and is tied for 11th on the all-time singles titles winners list. She also finished as runner-up at Wimbledon and Stanford this year. From the United States of America, please welcome our defending champion, Venus Williams.
Questions, please.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Hello. Good afternoon.

Q. Are you most excited about singles or doubles this year?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Both actually. Obviously singles is, you know, something that I usually expect at the end of the year to be here. But doubles, that's not something I expect. So it's definitely exciting.
You know, I think it was kind of a secret goal of Serena and I to get to the doubles here. To actually have it happen, you know, was really, really exciting for us.

Q. Are you excited or disappointed to be in the same group as your sister?
VENUS WILLIAMS: It's okay. We're okay with it. We both got to the Championships, so we know we're going to play each other at some point.

Q. Will you play the Fed Cup final?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah, they're announcing the team I think tomorrow or today. Today is Monday. I don't know what day it is, I'm sorry. Soon. So we'll see.

Q. You hope to play in it?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, absolutely.

Q. How do you feel about playing outdoors in November?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, I've done it all in my career. I don't think it will be anything crazy. I mean, I've played in snow flurries before, so...
I think it will be better than that.

Q. You won here last year. Presumably happy memories about coming back.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, absolutely happy memories about coming back. Last year was definitely a monumental moment. I never thought it would feel so good to actually win the year-end championships. It was definitely a surprised feeling at the end. I would love to feel that again.

Q. You enjoyed it then?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah, for sure.

Q. The whole experience?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I enjoyed the whole experience. Of course, every year is an honor to be in the top eight.

Q. As you assess your whole year, quite a lot more ups this year?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Pardon me?

Q. In the ups and downs, you had a lot more ups.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. I love what I do, so that's a complete up for me. I get to work outside. My thing is, you know, I get to make a living looking good. It's my job to stay fit. It doesn't get better than that.

Q. Serena was saying how energized she feels at the end of this year. Perhaps that's a feeling she hasn't had at the end of every year. How do you feel? How much are you looking forward to competing again at the very top for the next few years?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, obviously Serena and I are playing at a level that would keep us here for quite a few years longer. This is very good news for us. At the end of the year, I'm feeling like I'm ending on a high note. That's definitely high energy. Good acapella.

Q. How long would you like to play? Till you're 35?
VENUS WILLIAMS: That could happen. That could happen. Hopefully I'll still have talent in my hands and my feet, keep it going. As long as I can do it. Once you're done, at least for me, I'll be done.

Q. No comeback?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no, no. I'm here. I appreciate how wonderful this is. It's a privilege and honor to be here. I won't be giving it up and coming back. If I'm gone, I'm gone.

Q. Do you appreciate that more than when you were younger?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know what I thought when I was younger. That would be hard to pull out of the memory banks. I would like to think that I appreciated it. Let's hope so.

Q. One of the things you're very happy about at the moment, putting your political cap on, is the calendar the women's tour now has. It should hopefully help the development of players. The men were falling like flies in Shanghai a couple weeks ago. Here you are with a calendar that will suit players over the years to come.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes. I think that has been one of the difficult parts about tennis, is that you can't expect people to play 11 months out of the year and take two weeks off and get ready again. I think, unfortunately, we lose a lot of players early because of that.
I mean, you can't imagine that someone could play football longer than tennis. Hopefully that will help the longevity of people who really love the sport, love playing it, and people who are stars of the sport to help the sport. That's a fact and some opinion, too.

Q. Do you welcome, as your sister did a few minutes ago, the return of the two Belgians to the circuit? Do you think that's good for the game?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Totally. If it makes them happy to play tennis, that's good for them and the game.

Q. What do you think about Azarenka and Wozniacki?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I mean, they're playing great. This is obviously an exciting moment for them to qualify for their first Championships. I know they're going to play very well.

Q. Of that new breed led by those two, who do you see as potentially a star of the next decade?
VENUS WILLIAMS: You know, you can't pick that. I don't know.

Q. Prefer to have a stab at it?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't think about that, to be honest. I don't know, tennis is one of those sports where you really just focus on yourself. I don't really think about who's gonna be next up, so... It's better for you to figure it out.

Q. Talking about your political hat, do you enjoy now being sort of viewed as the leader of the women's players? Billie Jean, what she said about you last year, you inherited that role. What you said on the winner's podium in Dubai showed you were prepared to shoulder that responsibility. Is that something you enjoyed?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, a lot of people have said a lot of nice things. For me, my whole thing is that we all have worked as a team, players and the Tour, representatives, to really make positive changes in the game and to move forward and be competitive with other sports and to stay relevant. So it's really a team effort, and I'm very happy to be on the team.

Q. All of what happened then will not stop you from coming back to Dubai in February?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No. So far so good, I think. I don't think we have any -- I'm positive about the situation for next year in Dubai.

Q. It's a championship you're looking forward to defending?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes.

Q. Have you imagined continuing in a political or ambassador role after you finish playing?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no. You mean in tennis or outside of tennis?

Q. Either really.
VENUS WILLIAMS: No. In tennis, I don't know. It's hard to say exactly if I would be involved with tennis or not. I don't know. But definitely not outside of tennis. I'm not political at all.

Q. How much longer do you think you'll carry on playing?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, still playing great. I'm not going to let you in on that.

Q. Going through a year without winning a Grand Slam make you more determined?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm always determined. You have to be determined to win the first round in any tournament. You got to have that determination hat on every single day, even at practice, to be prepared. It's a lifestyle, so...
I'm at the point in my career where I've been very successful at every tournament just about, almost on every surface. For me it's about obviously playing great tennis, adding to my repertoire, my game, continuing to get better, to enjoy the challenge of it all obviously while being on top. So, yeah.

Q. What do you like about Twitter?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I like the interaction with fans, like direct interaction. I'm one of the people that answers a lot of questions. When I get a little time, I answer people's questions. I do enjoy that. Obviously I also have people that I'm like a big fan of. Being able to interact with them is great, too. I understand what it's like to just get the basics of someone's life that you really, really love. I love that part of Twitter. It's real close.

Q. Anything that you could mention?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I will not confess. I'm going to keep my pride for a little while longer. You know, I know what it's like when you love someone.

Q. Has tennis ever changed the relationship with your sister?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, not at all. We have fun, fun, fun.

Q. How would you describe the relationship now?
VENUS WILLIAMS: We have fun, fun, fun, yes. Don't forget to write the three 'funs' though.

Q. Are you reading Serena's book?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I've bought her book online and I've bought it on digital. I tell people to buy it all the time. But I can't say that I've read it. I've read parts of it.

Q. Is it on your list of things to do?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I kind of feel like I'll read it when I'm done. I don't know why I have that feeling. I've read parts of it, obviously. I kind of feel like I lived it, too, so...

Q. Are you going to write one?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Kind of had the front seat in that car.

Q. Are you going to write one?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Hopefully. Hopefully people will want to read one.

Q. When will that be done?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. She wrote a really good one, so it will be hard to measure up. But I'll try.
Thank you.

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