|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 28, 2012Serena WilliamsISTANBUL, TURKEY S. WILLIAMS/M. Sharapova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Congratulations. SERENA WILLIAMS: Thank you. Q. This wraps up obviously a big year for you. How important was it for you to get it title and end it on a good note all the same? SERENA WILLIAMS: Now that I can be honest, I really wanted to win and win this title and put a little pressure on myself. Yeah, I wanted it so bad but I didn't want to say it. I'm really excited that I was able to win it. I feel really good about ending the year. Like it really was important for me to end the year with this title in particular, so I feel really good about it. Q. How close were you to not playing this tournament potentially? I know you've been sick for sometime between here in the US Open. SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I was going to play the whole time. Yeah, it was never a doubt. Q. Why all the pressure? Why after the year that you've had did you want to win this one so badly? SERENA WILLIAMS: I had such a good year winning Wimbledon and US Open and stuff, Olympics, you know, it's like a heavy favorite going in to win this title, so for me it was really important. I mean, for my own sanity, so to say, I really wanted it, even though I didn't need it. Like I don't think I needed to do anything else this year or any other year, but I really wanted to end on a good note. Q. You've only lost one match since you lost at the French Open. How much credit of that goes to your new partnership with Patrick, or is there anything else that you've done to change? And just even bouncing back from that loss. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's been an incredible run. I really love working with Patrick. He's been really, really positive and really awesome. And I hate to lose. I think I went back to the drawing board. After Wimbledon my first few matches I was really, really tight, and I had a really great talk with my sister Isha who encouraged me a lot. I got better after that. So I think it was a lot of factors that really helped me to be able to get better. Q. You started the week a little bit slow and you really didn't have your rhythm, even though you didn't drop a set, and today was pretty good overall.  Talk about the performance. She didn't have a break point; you were hitting winners from everywhere. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think she played really well today and I think she's improved so much, which is amazing that a player of her stature and caliber can still want to improve and still get better. So I think that I played solid today. I think the last game I really played well. You know, when you're playing a player like Maria you always have to be focused for every point. Q. Talk about how you focus. You get out there in front of this crowd, it's totally sold out, and people are yelling and screaming. Are you in your zone and able to block everything out and focus on the ball? SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, I go through different emotions. Sometimes it's really exciting. Like when you first walk out on the court it's like, Wow, they're here, they're for you. You see the sold out crowd and it's completely packed and you see all the signs and people sitting on the stairs with no seats just filling in the arena even more. It's cool, really cool. Then you have to come to the moment where now you have to play. So for me, I have to kind of separate that. I think it's just staying focused and thinking about wanting to win every point. Q. You played in so many Grand Slams and so many of these Championships. What do you think about the quality of the women's game now as compared to how it was perhaps when you' first emerged as a player, the depth of quality in the women's game? SERENA WILLIAMS: I think the depth is great. I think it's gotten better; namely this year I think the depth has gotten a lot better. I think when I first started it was Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis. So it was probably even more depth back then, but now I think it's getting to be just as much. Q. How do you rank this season in your career? SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it's been a great season. I was asked that on the court. I have to say number two only because I didn't have two Grand Slams in the beginning. I faltered in the French and fell in the first round. I beat my record for 2002 match‑wise, but, yeah, I didn't do so well at the French obviously or in Australia. But it's close. It's neck and neck, really neck and neck. Q. When you look back after couple of years, what is the biggest thing you're going to you remember about this tournament? SERENA WILLIAMS: About this tournament? Q. Yeah. SERENA WILLIAMS: I'll probably remember the fans, how amazing and excited they were. The karaoke sign, the guy had the sign that said, Are we going to karaoke tonight? He knows I'm a big karaoke addict. So I'll remember all those things. Q. You said you knew you were a heavy favorite coming into this tournament. How heavy a favorite will you be at the Australian Open, do you think? SERENA WILLIAMS: Gosh, I don't know. I'll probably be one of the favorites, but, I mean, you can never underestimate Victoria or Maria or so many other players, like Kvitova, who's doing really well. There are a lot of other young players that are playing really well. It's one thing to be a favorite, but it's another thing to show up and show the reason why you're the favorite. Q. Have you got another Serena slam in you? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I could. We'll see. I have a chance. Hopefully. Q. On Monday on the media day, Li Na was speaking about you and she said that when Serena is on her 100% she's impossible beat. Do you feel invincible? Obviously she's right. SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, I always said that if I'm playing well and I'm doing everything right, you know, it's really difficult to beat me. I still believe that, which is great that I still can kind of play that way. You know, I feel like there are ways for me to improve, but I feel like it's ‑‑ I think it's a true statement, without trying to sound full of myself or anything. Q. Patrick suggested that despite all you've achieved in the game that you can still improve. Do you agree with that? If so, can you say how you go about it without giving away secrets? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I definitely think I can improve. Especially when I was out there today I thought, Okay, I want to work on this in November. Oh, okay, I'm going to work on that one in November. So I was thinking of all these things I can work on and I can improve on. I think every day, whether it's life or whether it's playing tennis, we always can improve as people or as whatever we do. So the day I feel that I can't improve, I think that's the day I should probably hang up my racquet. Q. At the top of the game at the moment you have, as it were, two 31 year olds, Roger Federer and yourself. What do you think that says about the longevity of tennis? If a young player is coming in now, they're probably got a very long career ahead of them before they actually reach their ultimate. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think it's been a great development. I think Roger and myself ‑ and Venus is still swinging and winning tournaments. So it just goes to show that you we can still do well and play well at an older age. I don't know if it's for everyone, though. Different strokes for different folks. It's definitely for myself and Roger and Venus. Yeah, we like it. We love the game. We love to play. We love being competitive. We love the competition. It's our life. Q. Could you ever imagine a time when you wouldn't want to be competitive and out there playing tennis? SERENA WILLIAMS: Not necessarily. I was playing Family Feud earlier today with my phone, on my smartphone, I should say, and I was really competitive with some other person in the digital world. I don't even know who they were and I got angry. Yeah, I think I'm still ready to play tennis. Q.  They announced the candidates for the 2014 locations for the tournament. How much of a priority do you think it should be for the WTA to find somewhere that can kind of replicate this kind of environment, this sort of overflow crowds you get here, the enthusiasm, because it hasn't always been that way. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, no, it hasn't been. But when you're moving a tournament year after year or ever few years, it's not easy. You have to build a fan base. I think in Turkey we were really quite fortunate in a way to be able to have such amazing tennis fans and amazing people. You also have great players, great star power that bring in the crowds as well. So I think it's definitely important, but at the same time, some cities that might get chosen may need help in their tennis world or might have a bright future for a lot of tennis players. Q. Start of the year you tore up your ankle in Brisbane. SERENA WILLIAMS: Don't remind me. Q. I know. Thinking back to that and not sure if you could play the Aussie, if you would've know you would've gotten to this point where you're Olympic gold and Wimbledon, and US Open champion, I guess you might have taken that, huh? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, definitely; although I was devastated when I went over on my ankle. Seems so long ago. I guess, you know, you just got to take‑‑ this is why I just got to take things as they come. I was positive. There is no way I should have played, but I thought, I'm not going to travel 8,000 miles to go back home. So I won a few matches. It was nice. Afterwards I stayed a you few days and I had fun. I love that place, so, you know, it definitely was worth‑‑ I don't know if it was worth it, but I definitely was able to get some rest and play some more matches. Q. So Patrick says you're going to be training in Mauritius. SERENA WILLIAMS: He talks a lot. Q. Yeah, he does. That's a change for you. No L.A., no Florida. He didn't talk that much. SERENA WILLIAMS: Okay. Q. But he said you were training in Mauritius. For you to put yourself out there, staying in Paris, going to Mauritius, not doing the normal things, is it something you're trying to do in your life to change things up and keep it fresh? SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I mean, that's where everyone at his academy trains at the end of the year. So when we first started working out, that's all I wanted to do was go Mauritius, because I saw the pictures and it was so pretty. All I could think about‑ and I'm not kidding ‑ in Stanford I went swimsuit shopping. So six months in advance I have all my swimsuits and bikinis. Everyone is going to be training two and three times. I told Patrick, Now, look. I train in the morning and I'm at the beach in the afternoon. We have to have some sort of understanding here. So I'm excited about that. It'll be like a mini vacation for me. I feel like I'll working hard and be laying out. Q. I never seen you so fast to go to the net and play so much at the net. SERENA WILLIAMS: On the? Q. The net, play so offensive all the time. Do you think this is the evolution of yourself to play shorter points, always every match, and this is the best Serena? SERENA WILLIAMS: I didn't realize I came to the net. That's good. So when my dad is talking to me, I'll tell him what you said. I'm like, Daddy, I did come to the net. (Laughing.) Q. The statistics are good. SERENA WILLIAMS: Really? I'll have to look at 'em. It's funny. I don't feel like I was in at all. It's a totally different game when you go back and look at it as posed to being in the moment. You see so much more. Definitely have to go back and look at the match. Q. Is this the best Serena in' your mind? SERENA WILLIAMS: The one that comes to the net? Q. No, this one, this Serena. SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I can't say that. Like I said, I'm just always doing the best I can and looking to improve and, yeah, keep going forward. Q. You've been playing very hard, and then maybe after tomorrow back to your country. So what are you imagining in Istanbul, the Turkish people? SERENA WILLIAMS: I didn't understand the first part. Q. You're playing all the week. You're playing hard. SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm playing near? Q. No, no, playing all week here. SERENA WILLIAMS: Okay, yeah. Q. Tomorrow it's back to your country maybe after tomorrow. SERENA WILLIAMS: No, no, my country... Q. No, what are your thoughts of Istanbul? SERENA WILLIAMS: Okay, I'm sorry. It was so clear. It's me. It's not you. Q. So for example, what are you doing tomorrow? SERENA WILLIAMS: Okay. So Istanbul has been really great to me. Turkey has been great. I've heard so much about the city, so my goal is tomorrow to go into the city and see more. I'm going to be here an extra day, so I'm excited to be here an extra day so I can kind of visit such a historic, amazing city that I've never been to before. It'll be relaxing because I don't have anything to worry about playing a match, so it'll be good. Q. I may be wrong, but at one point I hear you shouting in French, Allez. SERENA WILLIAMS: Maybe next year at Roland Garros. Q. So you didn't shout allez in French today? SERENA WILLIAMS: No, not yet. Q. Anyway, I was told by Patrick that you're practicing in French, correct? SERENA WILLIAMS: Practicing my French? Yes. Everyone at the academy speaks French to me. Sometimes I look like a der in headlights, and when in doubt I just nod and say, Oui. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|