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WIMBLEDONJune 29, 2013Serena WilliamsLONDON, ENGLAND S. WILLIAMS/K. Date‑Krumm THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You're five times champion here. Were you annoyed having to wait all day to play and being shifted around to a different court? SERENA WILLIAMS: I was a little surprised that I was playing third on after two men. But I wasn't annoyed. I'm able, and you have to be able to deal with any circumstance. Q. The scoreline was emphatic, but she made you work quite hard at times. Does it make you wonder if you can play into your 40s? SERENA WILLIAMS: I honestly never thought I would play until my 30s, to be honest. I don't see my stopping any time soon. However, I don't see myself playing into my 40s. That's why I have so much respect for Kimiko Date. She's playing so well and she's so fit and she's so good. So just so much respect for her. Q. You've played probably more night matches under the lights at the US Open than any other active player. How did you find your first one at Wimbledon? How would you compare the two? SERENA WILLIAMS: It's definitely special. I prefer this one because it's indoor and it's grass. I missed all those indoor carpet tournaments in the '90s that I should have played, and I didn't know that that was really good for my game. So, uhm, yeah, playing indoor on grass for me is like amazing. Q. How did you find the atmosphere? SERENA WILLIAMS: I love the atmosphere. I love the sound that the ball makes. I feel like it's really just incredible. You hear the sound. I feel like the crowd is louder. It just feels really cool. Q. You were talking about your opponent's fitness. Do you notice a difference in how hard it is to stay fit now compared to 10 years ago or is it about the same? SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, for me I feel that it's more difficult. It takes me longer to get fit. Like if I take a couple weeks off, then I find that I lose my fitness quicker than what I used to. So it takes me like maybe a little bit longer to get fully back into shape. So I find that that's the only difficult part. Q. Did you get any tips from Venus? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yes. She sent me tons and tons and tons of tips. We were talking yesterday. But we got sidetracked. I didn't even talk about the match. So today she sent me what to expect, what to do. She's so positive. So I was able to take that on the court with me. Q. Could you give me some examples? SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I might have to play her again, so I definitely can't. Q. How much time do you spend in recovery now versus other years? SERENA WILLIAMS: I spend probably, hmm, a lot of time stretching, only because I like it, not because I want to do it. Other than that, I probably spend less time recovering. I tell you, I feel better now physically than I have in a really long time, if ever. Q. You don't do ice baths or anything like that? SERENA WILLIAMS: No. Q. Ever? SERENA WILLIAMS: I do only in emergencies. I think I did one in Paris. I really didn't want to do it. I hate 'em. I absolutely hate ice baths, so I try to avoid ice baths at all costs. Q. How would you describe where you are in your game right now, what you're most pleased with and maybe, if anything, what you're not pleased with? SERENA WILLIAMS: I feel like I'm moving well. I feel like I'm covering the court okay. You know, I'm pretty much insatiable. There's always room that I look to improve. I would love to improve my serve, I would love to improve my return. I think my return was better today than it was in my last match. Hopefully I can continue to ameliorate those areas of my game. Q. What about the matchup with Sabine? SERENA WILLIAMS: It will be a really good match. I feel like she's serving massive. I feel like she plays some of her best tennis on grass. She always pulls an upset. It will be a really tough match for me. I have to get serious to play it. Q. What do you think you'll be doing at 42? SERENA WILLIAMS: At 42? Oh, uhm, I don't know. I really don't think that far in advance. I just think for the moment. Q. Some different folks that we haven't seen a lot in the fourth round, like Monica Puig, Laura Robson, Sloane Stephens. Your thoughts on how things have shaped out a little differently than maybe anticipated? SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, uhm, there's definitely a new generation. I feel like Victoria is a lot younger and she's a part of that new generation. And outside of her, there's other people that are going to eventually start playing better and doing better, like the young ladies you named. So I feel like this might be the beginning of maybe the future. I mean, eventually there's going to have to be a shift. There's going to have to be a shift of players. Q. I think Kimiko hit on the right so fast. What impression did you have of Kimiko today? SERENA WILLIAMS: She takes the ball really early. She hits really, really flat. Sometimes, you know, you can take the ball late and not catch it right. She's really playing I'd say a really aggressive style game that works really well for her. Q. Laura Robson is into the second week for the first time here. Given the home crowd, do you think she's somebody that people might start to fear the longer the tournament goes on? SERENA WILLIAMS: I think so, for sure. People would love to see Laura win this tournament. Being home, this would be a great opportunity for her. I think it would be fun. So the crowd is going to be completely behind her, as would I. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Q. If you had any thoughts for the younger Americans in this phase, sort of the rookie phase of their careers, what suggestions would you have? SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it's just important to really enjoy what you do and have fun. I always say, Be professional. That's what I try to do. Q. You spoke earlier of being very happy where you are in terms of feeling well physically. In terms of the middle of Wimbledon, compared to all the other times you've played here, what is your degree of satisfaction of how you're positioned for week two? SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I always feel like when you start a tournament, you want to kind of work your way in. Not too much, but you don't want to play your best tennis in the first round and continue to go down. I feel like I try to play better as each match goes on. I try to find out something I can improve on from each match so I can do it better in the next round. So leading into the second week, I feel like there's a lot of things I would like to improve. I feel like every time I come at Wimbledon, if I'm able to stay for the second week, there's always things I always look to improve on. Q. What's the comparison between this one and the previous? SERENA WILLIAMS: Uhm, I don't know. I'm sorry. I can't answer that. Q. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear 600 wins? SERENA WILLIAMS: I thought I just got to 500 wins. That's the first thing that came to my mind. When was that? Does anyone know? Q. 500? 100 matches ago. SERENA WILLIAMS: Wasn't it not that long ago? I feel like it just happened, so I'm a little shocked they told me I had 600 today. I was like, Really? It's definitely a good thing. Q. What are your thoughts on the Wimbledon policy year in, year out of always putting more men's matches on the big courts than women? SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, it's their policy. I've talked about that time and time again, how I'm always fighting for the ladies. Maybe one day we'll get two matches and the men will get one match, and maybe they'll be able to switch back and forth hopefully. But it's definitely something we have to still work on. Q. Are you aware that you were the marquee match today on Court1? They put you there because you're the star. SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I don't look at it like that. I look at it as I'm just Serena and I'm going out there to do what I do best, which is play tennis. Q. It's been so long that you've lost a match. Do you have to remember losses to keep yourself motivated? SERENA WILLIAMS: No, not at all. Every time I go out there, I tell you, I feel like anything can happen. I don't feel invincible. I feel like anything can happen. More than anything, that keeps me completely motivated. Q. Of the 600, the most magical matches, wonderful, really close to your heart? SERENA WILLIAMS: You always give me the most difficult questions. I have to say Australia 2003. It's four in a row, four Grand Slams in a row. That has to be the best one. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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