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WIMBLEDON

June 23, 2010

Venus Williams

LONDON, ENGLAND

V. WILLIAMS/E. Makarova
6-0, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Venus for you.

Q. That was a pretty decisive performance out there. You must be really pleased?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, she's been playing really well, won a tournament last week. I think the grass suits her game.
She hits it low and has a good serve. You know, I was very happy to get off to a good start and then to close it out at the end.

Q. You must be particularly happy with the way you were serving today.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, uhm, of course, you know, when the first serve goes in. But I think also when the second serve, too, was pretty forceful. Of course, on the grass, the serve is going to be a big factor for me.

Q. Were you preferred to have been in the other half of the draw so you get to play for the Queen tomorrow?
VENUS WILLIAMS: You can't choose those kind of things. Of course, I always want the honor of coming back to play Tuesday at 1. Something I'll be fighting for this year.

Q. Do you have a better curtsy than Serena?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Her curtsy is unreal. If she ever demonstrates it for you, it's going to blow your socks off.

Q. She'd win a curtsy-off with you?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Absolutely.

Q. What do you make of Serena not playing on centre tomorrow?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Is she not?

Q. Is she going to be disappointed?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I guess you'll find out tomorrow when you ask her.

Q. If she's been practicing her curtsy, presumably she would have been hoping to play on centre, maybe expecting it?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know, yeah.

Q. Have you talked about it at all?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, not at all.

Q. How about your football watching? Have you been closely following the match? Serena seems to be going berserk.
VENUS WILLIAMS: I haven't. I don't really turn the TV on a lot. It's not something I do. She turns the football on, so I guess I haven't been keeping up as much as, you know, she has.

Q. Were you aware that England were playing while you were playing? Maybe there weren't as many people on Centre Court as there might be at other times you played.
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I was so focused on my match, I had no idea who was playing except that I was playing.

Q. Did you sense the crowd was at all quiet or distracted?
VENUS WILLIAMS: You don't really hear that much when you're playing. You don't hear a lot. You just are playing. It's something, you know, a player would understand. You see the ball and that's it.

Q. What's the state of your game right now?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, the state of my game is really living in the moment for each point. So regardless of what happened - good or bad on the last point - whatever it was, I'm just in that moment to win that point that I'm in. So that's my state.

Q. How do you think you're playing?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I mean, I always think I'm playing well. I'm always giving myself a good grade.

Q. Could you talk about one or two things in your game that grass really emphasizes?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Obviously the speed. I play fast. You know, I think my serve obviously, and just my aggressive style.

Q. You say 'living for the point.' Does that reflect a change of strategy on your part?
VENUS WILLIAMS: You have to live in the moment, change the strategy if it's not working. That's sport.

Q. Is that something you've always done, always come naturally to you?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I've always tried to execute my game the best that I can. So I find that works best. But you have little nuances you have to change throughout the match.

Q. John Isner is in a match right now, something like 33-All in the fifth set. What do you think of that?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know what to think of that. It's amazing. Wow. I hope he wins, obviously. It's a marathon. It's longer than a marathon.

Q. Is that a good thing for spectators?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't think I'd move. I think if you moved, you lose your seat. Of course, around the grounds, there has to be a buzz around that this match is going so far.

Q. Serena called it Isner versus Mahot on her Twitter page. She called him Mahot.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, it was probably just finger slipped.

Q. What is your biggest problem in the first week? Is it concentration or are you trying to build yourself up gradually?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm just trying to win, I guess, get through the round, get to the next round. Nothing super complicated. Just trying to keep it simple and win in straight sets.

End of FastScripts

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