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SONY ERICSSON OPENMarch 26, 2012Serena WilliamsMIAMI, FLORIDA S. WILLIAMS/S. Stosur THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I know you said that you're inspired by Venus, what she is going through. Were you also inspired today because Samantha kind of took one of your titles away last August? SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I don't think she took my title. She went out and won the title. I wasn't defending champ or anything. She played really well and she's a really good player. I just, you know, good players have to show up. Q. Today obviously you're serving really great lately. Does that feel like one of the reasons why you got through today, the serve? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, definitely. It definitely helped me out in the end. I was down a little bit and my serve was able to pull me through. It was really cool. Q. You hit 20 aces in two sets. SERENA WILLIAMS: I know. Q. You've never done that before. Why now? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I'm not even gonna ask. That was kinda crazy, though. I was like, Really? That's kind of all I have to say about that is, Really? Are you sure? Q. You jumped for joy, literally, after the match. SERENA WILLIAMS: I just jumped up and down. Q. You seem so happy. Did the time away give you a different appreciation of what it's like to be out there? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, every match for me is a joy to win. Every time I go out there and win it's good for me. I like it and I enjoy it. It makes me really happy. Q. We've seen you hit aces before, maybe not that many. That slice forehand, little dropshot there, where did that come from? SERENA WILLIAMS: I have a good dropshot. I just never use it. I don't know why. (Smiling.) Q.How much fun was that? SERENA WILLIAMS: It was more nervous than fun. I was like, Okay, is it going to go over? It went over. Now, Oh, is she gonna get it? So it was more like that as opposed to fun. Q. A lot of times when players hit more aces in a match it can be because they think other parts of their game aren't working as well and they need to put more on their serves. Did you feel that way at all? SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I think for the most part things are working pretty decent. You know, I wasn't ‑‑I honestly feel like I can do better, and I feel like ‑‑but my serve was hot. I was like, That's pretty cool. Q. What's your psychology going for the ace? Do you step up there, or is it when you're sort of angry and say, Oh, man, get this game over with, or is it when you're thinking you can blow it by her with a return? SERENA WILLIAMS: Every time I step up to serve I pretty much want to hit an ace. Q. In the second, too? Because you hit quite a few seconds that were aces or close to aces. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I don't know. I always just feel like ace ‑‑it's not anything. So considering how many I serve in my mind, it's not nearly as many as I do on the court. Q. Do you get any extra joy, pleasure, being here playing at this tournament in your kind of hometown? Does it make you play harder, play better? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, definitely. I love playing here. This is a great tournament for me. Um, I have so many friends that can't come out, you know, and I get a lot of support here. My family is here, so I really enjoy it. Q. She was hitting her forehand very well today. She's a tough, tough player. You must be pretty happy with the quality of this match. It was a high‑quality match. It wasn't an error‑fest or anything. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I thought it was a super high‑quality match. I think we both went really, really for our shots, and she hit little to no errors. It was a really well‑fought match. Q. How much was the US Open final in your mind coming into this match? SERENA WILLIAMS: It wasn't in my mind. I just thought, This is a new game. I mean, it wasn't in my mind at all. Q. Completely different conditions and circumstances? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I was a little more fresh, you know, so that was good. I just thought ‑‑it just wasn't really on my mind. Q. You said on court that your mom's pep talk helped. How did that help? SERENA WILLIAMS: It just helped me not just for this match, just for my career and where I want to go. So that's kinda what it was about. It wasn't any‑‑ for anything in particular with this match. Q. On that second Hawk‑Eye challenge there that you lost, you sort of raised your racquet to her either before the serve, almost as if to say like you would during a let, like, Sorry. SERENA WILLIAMS: I always do that. Q. You don't have to apologize for being wrong on an Hawk‑Eye call. SERENA WILLIAMS: I always do kinda out of habit. I don't mean to. I don't get enough credit for being, you know, a super nice person and clapping on good points. They only focus on me yelling at umpires. I'm actually an unbelievable professional competitor out there. Q. Talking about that, how much ‑‑ you know, when you go into a match you respect what Sam can do. You've played a lot of tough matches before that in Stanford and Canada. How much does that sort of mutual respect and awareness of what other players are doing help you improve yourself? SERENA WILLIAMS: I think she in particular‑‑ I have a lot of respect for her game and everyone out here, but when I go out there to play, I just go to do the best I can and what happens, happens. Q. We might have two Williamses in the quarterfinals. Does it feel like old times around here? SERENA WILLIAMS: I hope so, you know. We just are ‑‑we both have been through a lot, and each match, whether we're beating top 10 player or, you know, top 80 player, we really thoroughly enjoy it and want to do really well. Q. You're not really matching up to Venus in the drama department here. SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't want to. I definitely don't want to. I watched her yesterday, and I honestly was dying. I went to bed after that. I went home, I ate, and I went to sleep and it was only like 8:00. Q. Will you be up late tonight watching Venus? SERENA WILLIAMS: Of course, so... Yeah. Q. In person or on TV? SERENA WILLIAMS: Definitely on TV, because I believe I might play tomorrow. Definitely on TV. Q. You might play Caroline Wozniacki next. I know you're pretty good friends with her. Can you talk about your relationship with her and her going through a tougher time now in her career? SERENA WILLIAMS: Um, she's a really good player. I don't think she's necessarily going through a tough time. I just think that she's, you know, just playing the same way and, you know, I am, too. So she has a tough match today actually, so... I really, really, really, really like her as a person and as a girl and just as someone on the tour. I really like her a lot. She's a good girl, and it will be a good match. It will be like going out there against a good friend of mine. I always said if I can play Venus then I'm okay playing anybody. Q. Do you yell at the TV when you're watching Venus? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't watch on TV. I just have to watch in person. I'll watch scores. Q. Do you do watch the live scoring much? SERENA WILLIAMS: I watch live scores because I can't watch on TV, yeah. Q. Are there any new training gadgets you've recently incorporated into your preparations? SERENA WILLIAMS: Not in the past, you know, couple years, no. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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