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BRISBANE INTERNATIONALJanuary 1, 2013Serena WilliamsBRISBANE, QUEENSLAND S. WILLIAMS/A. Cornet THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Firstly, Happy New Year. SERENA WILLIAMS: Thank you. Q. Great start to the year. You've got the chance to become the oldest women's No. 1 if you keep this form up. What's is it that is giving you the hunger and drive to keep performing at such a high level at age 31? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I feel reinvigorated. I can't speak tonight, but we all know that word. So that's it. I just feel alive. I feel really alive. Q. How is the sleep depravation and insomnia? SERENA WILLIAMS: I left my sleep sheets, and actually a friend of mine, Renee has some, and she's going to give me some. But I don't know why. I don't know what time zone I'm in. I don't know if I'm in Florida or if I'm in Mauritius or if I'm in Brazil. I just don't know anymore. My body is like telling me, Don't sleep ever. Q. You say you he feel like that, but out the court you seem to be in the groove. SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm good when I'm awake. I don't know. I'm nocturnal right now. I can't sleep at night. I don't wake up until late, so... Q. How did you feel out there on court tonight? There was a turning point in the second set. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I feel there was definitely a turning point. I started to be ‑‑ I tried to be more aggressive. I tried to play really consistent today. Cornet is a really good player. She had a tough year last year, but she did well towards the end. She's regaining her confidence and she's been in the top 15, so she has the potential to be a great and really tough opponent. I knew that I had to play really well. Q. 200‑kilometer‑an‑hour serve. Pretty impressive. SERENA WILLIAMS: Like I said, it never goes in when I hit it, and I just really went for it. I was excited about that. I was like, Yes, it went in. Q. What's your fastest serve? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I'm not a kilometer girl, I'm a miles‑an‑hour girl. Q. How about in miles. SERENA WILLIAMS: 124 I think that was in. I think I hit a 26 but it didn't go in. Q. Do you check the clock a lot during a match? SERENA WILLIAMS: Every serve. Every serve. Every single serve. And I don't do it consciously, I just every serve I look and see what it was. Q. Tennis aside, New Year's resolution, what's in the cards? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't have any. I don't do the New Year's resolution. If I do, I don't have any. I'm boring today, right? I'm sorry. Q. Maria pulled out today, and a lot of women tend to take different routes going to the Australian Open. Do you prefer to play a few matches to get there nice and ready? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think she was playing last year too and she pulled out and it worked for her, so maybe she thought it was another good strategy for her. I just found out, so... One thing I can say about Maria is she's a great competitor. I've never not seen her play for any reason. I hope she's okay going into Australia. She's great for the tennis. I think she probably made a wise decision for her just to get herself ready for Melbourne. Q. But do you feel like you always need some leadup work to get rid of cobwebs? SERENA WILLIAMS: For Australia I like to have at least a couple matches. I think historically I've done that, whether I've played if Sydney or whether I've played in Perth, and now recently I've been liking to come to Brisbane. For me it works because it's the first tournament of the year. Q. Outside of tennis, how are you looking to spend your off time in Australia? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I have an off day tomorrow, so maybe I will‑‑ last year karaoke'd, so... Yeah, like I said, I'm really boring. I'm really boring now. I used to be fun. I used to be a lot of fun times. For a fun time, call Serena. Now for a fun time, do not call me. I don't know what happened to me. Q. Is this part of the incredible run that you're having at the moment, do you think? You're sort of winding back a little on the off‑court activities? SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I think I just got older and I realized I can't be that fun girl for the rest of my life, you know. I think that's pretty much what it is. Yeah, like you said, I'm going to be ‑ hopefully, maybe, I don't know ‑ I could be the oldest No. 1. I don't know how that goes with the funnest. (Smiling.) Q. Talking of being young, Sloane Stephens, you could be playing her. What can you say about her at 19 doing as well as she's doing? SERENA WILLIAMS: She's doing great. I think she has a great chance to win her next round. She's playing really well. I practice next to her a lot in L.A. and I watch her a lot because I'm actually a Sloane Stephens fan. I'm obviously rooting for her tomorrow to do well. If we play each other I think it'll be a fun match. She's a good player, really consistent. Serves well, runs really well, and she doesn't miss. I guess that goes under consistency. So it'll be a really good match for me, especially leading up for Melbourne. I think it'll be a good match for her, and I think it will be up in the air with who would win? Q. The first slam of the season is usually the hardest to win. You've won it five times. Do you have a theory why that tournament is so good for you or you're good for it? SERENA WILLIAMS: I have no theory at all. I feel like the few times I won I shouldn't have won. I was down, I was injured, but for whatever reason I was still able to win. I do love the in Melbourne. I have friends in Melbourne and I never want to leave, so maybe subconsciously I can't lose because I don't want to go home. Q. We saw Carolyn Wozniacki do a great impression of you several weeks ago. Who can you do a great impression of? SERENA WILLIAMS: Let me think about this. I was good at doing Pete, but honestly, that was ages ago. I need to get up to the modern times. I think I‑‑ Andy retired. Dang it. Why did he go? I think I'll be good at doing‑‑ I don't know. Don't put the pressure on me. I don't think I would ever mimic anybody. I'm really shy sometimes. (Laughter.) I wouldn't do it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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