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WIMBLEDON

June 22, 2010

Serena Williams

LONDON, ENGLAND

S. WILLIAMS/M. Larcher De Brito
6-0, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Serena.

Q. Tell us what you were pleased about what you were doing and maybe there were things that displeased you.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I thought I served well, and I think that I could have came to the net more.

Q. Any displeasure, besides falling down, perhaps?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I thought I could have came to the net more. I think that's something I could have done better.

Q. What about her power? You seemed to be having quite a baseline battle at some stages. You had to work pretty hard.
SERENA WILLIAMS: She's a good player. I played her before. So that was good that I played her before, so I knew what to expect.
She doesn't look it, but she definitely packs a punch. It was good for me because most people that do play nowadays hit really hard. It was good to get someone that hit really hard early on.

Q. Can you talk us through your outfit today.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, we dubbed it Strawberries and Cream. Strawberries, is that the correct enunciation of it? I don't have a good British accent. The red is strawberries and the white is cream. It's not like a pure white; it's more of a cream. Also the red kind of symbolizes a lot of things I do in Africa, along with a lot of the work, like the red laces. Everybody that buys a pair can pretty much save a life in Africa.
I really kind of wanted to tie that all together with this championship. Since it means so much to me, I thought it could work well. The tournament means so much to me as well as the things I do in Africa. I thought it could also work well together.

Q. Your nails look good today.
SERENA WILLIAMS: They have strawberries on them, too. If I would have thought about it, I would have put a strawberry instead of a heart. They're hearts. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I could have had a strawberry.

Q. Are you watching the World Cup and watching America?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Absolutely. I live and die -- I also speak in terms of 'we.' I think we play on Wednesday, which is tomorrow. And I have tomorrow off, so I'm excited to watch us.

Q. Do you know who is going to win?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Actually, we should already be qualified because we beat Slovenia. Oh, my God. You never know. You can't underestimate anyone. Algeria still wants to do well. We'll see.

Q. What are your thoughts about Thursday with the Queen's visit and how are your curtsy practices going?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I was going to curtsy today on the court afterwards, but I think I flubbed it. So I'm definitely going to work on it a little more. I'm trying to tone down my wrist action (laughter).
But my curtsy is really fun. It's something that she'll definitely never forget, if I ever even get a chance to meet her.
No, we really don't do that so much in the United States, so I'm really working hard on it.

Q. What will it mean for you to have her here for your match?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm almost speechless because, I mean, hopefully I'll even get to play in front of her. If not, I'll be fine because I don't want to get too nervous.
But I think it's cool. She hasn't been here in how long? I think they said 33 years, which she's missed some generations of incredible tennis players. You know, to be in a new generation where she is going to come out and see, and even to be on the grounds and playing on that day I think is a real honor.

Q. When you were a child, did you think that Wimbledon was a place that the Queen always came?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I always thought it was the Duchess of Kent, because I think I watched it a lot. I never realized that she would come to the tennis. I didn't realize that she came.
Obviously, when I started playing, I realized that she had come before, and wow.

Q. What sort of outfit do you think would be suitable to wear on Thursday then?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I'm definitely going to go for something more conservative, you know (laughter).

Q. Can you explain the rationale behind your outfit today? Generally, how do you go about choosing what you wear before a major Grand Slam?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, a lot of things are involved. We do actually designs over a year in advance. So, you know, a year and a half ago, I thought, Okay, let's do something different because I always do white and gold since gold is one of my favorite colors. I thought we needed to change it up. So we came up with the cream and the red.

Q. Your serving stats today were pretty eye-popping. Was there a particularly special rhythm out there? Did you feel different at all?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I served so terrible my last match at the French. I went home and worked really hard on my serve. I was incredibly disappointed with it. Had a talk with my serve. I said, You know, we got to do a little bit better.
Hopefully I can continue to serve well throughout The Championships and just keep going.

Q. Do you have a sense of what your record is in majors in first and second rounds? Do you remember ever losing in the first or second round?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I never lost in the first. I lost in the second I think to V in, wow, was it '98? I don't want to say the year. I don't want to age myself. In 2008, so... (Smiling).

Q. What does that say about your concentration in those first two rounds when some players have some problems? We saw Roger Federer almost get knocked out yesterday.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think the key word is 'almost.' He's a real champ and was able to pull through. That's what really matters. I've almost lost several times but come through that. Being able to play your way through the tournament is really able to help.

Q. The crowd really got behind your opponent today. Did you notice that at all? Did it bother you?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I noticed it. And I would have gotten behind her, as well, especially now that I'm watching a lot of the football. I really got behind North Korea. My heart really went out to them, especially against Brazil.
It was like, Oh, my heart went out to them. I could only imagine. I was glad to watch the soccer because it helps my tennis game, realize maybe they're just rooting for the underdog.

Q. Is your curtsy where you want it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I said I was working on it. It's a little dramatic. I'm trying to tone it down.

Q. Just a little less forced?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I want it to be more natural. Right now it feels really forced. Seems like I've never done a curtsy before, which may be true. But I'm looking forward to nailing it (laughter).

Q. You're going to watch the USA football game. What's the tension like for you when you're watching the USA team?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Let me tell you, I'm jumping, I'm screaming, I'm punching the air. Just really into it. I mean, I'm really, really into it.
So I am definitely gonna work my schedule tomorrow around the game.

End of FastScripts

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