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ROGERS CUP WOMENAugust 11, 2013Serena WilliamsTORONTO, ONTARIO S. WILLIAMS/S. Cirstea THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Pretty good performance dropping only two games there. You just played a little bit better than last night. Just talk about how you felt overall. SERENA WILLIAMS: I felt okay. I knew she had had a lot of big wins and she had a lot of momentum going into this match. She also had nothing to lose, so it wasn't going to be easy for me today, and I knew that I would have to play better today than what I did last night. With all that in mind, I just tried to do that. Q. You got on top of her early, which I guess is somewhat important, got up 3‑0, and then she had a hard time pushing you at all, yes? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, so I definitely started early. I always try to do that in every match. I try to win as many games as I can. Doesn't always work out, but that's always what I try to do. Q. What do you think of your level overall since you first got here till the end? Pleased? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I'm okay. Definitely can do a lot more. For me, it's always about constantly improving and never saying I did great and I can be satisfied. For me, it's like I did great but what can I do better? What can I improve on? That's what I always strive for. Q. So the glass is always pretty much half empty every day? SERENA WILLIAMS: It's not necessarily half empty. It's more or less ‑‑it's more or less what can I do to be better. I think whenever I become satisfied, then that's when I think a lot of players, in general, the level goes down. For me, throughout my whole career, I've always tried to constantly do better. Q. You showed a lot of respect to your partners on court. But it seemed to me personally that it was like slow motion between the plays, and then you played so easily all your matches here like two last matches that I said there were no opposite on the court. Is just kindness to your partners in tennis, to the people that you meet in tennis, or is just how you feel? Because it seemed to me it was too easy, this tournament. SERENA WILLIAMS: No tournament is ever easy, especially being in the position I am in. You have to‑‑ you know, the tournament starts and they expect you to win. The tournament is like, Well, you're going to be in the final. After your semifinal I want you to do this, and you have to do this and this press. It's like, Who knows if I'll even make it to the semifinals? It's a lot of pressure and it's not easy.  So everything is, for me, a bonus and a blessing to get so far. Q. Obviously you hide it. Thank you very much. You hide like you're tired or you're nervous. I didn't see it. So thank you. SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. You know, I'm a sports athlete, and I have to perform. People come to watch myself and my opponent play, so you have to be able to perform. That's all I could do. Q. I think you have tied your career best with eight titles so far this season. Do you feel like, especially at this point in your career, are you pleased with how you've figured out your schedule, especially heading into the last slam? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I feel like I have played a lot of tennis this year, although I don't think I have overdone it. I feel like I have played key tournaments, played well in those tournaments, and just keep going. So, yeah, I'm pretty satisfied with that. Q. Winning as much as you have on the biggest stages in the sport, when you see someone like Sorana get as emotional as she did, losing a tournament like she did, does this put some of the smaller tournaments into perspective for you? SERENA WILLIAMS: Every tournament ‑‑for her, this is a big tournament. For me, this is a big tournament. This is one of the big stops of the year. When you see the emotion that she had on court, it's like you appreciate it. She wanted to do well. She tried to do well. It's good to see that she takes every tournament serious and not just the Grand Slams. Q. Sorana just said previously that she felt she played a lot better than what the score sheet said. How do you think she played today besides the 6‑2, 6‑0? SERENA WILLIAMS: I think she played well. I mean, I don't know the stats, but I don't think there were too many Love games. We had some long rallies. I mean, we both hit a few unforced errors, but I told my coach, I said, I thought she played really well today. Q. What is it that you really want to improve still, going on? SERENA WILLIAMS: Um, my attitude. On the court, that could improve (smiling) ‑ I get so intense and so emotionally charged, and I want it so bad that sometimes it works against me‑ as well as a lot of other things. Q. You mentioned all week how much fun you have had here and how you have had a lot of friends you have been visiting and so on. Was one of the more famous ones in the stands today? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, Drake came out today. We are really good friends. We have always been good friends. It was good to see him to come out and him being in Toronto. So I was excited that he made it today. Q. Just talk about some of the keys for you moving forward towards the US Open to satisfy yourself. SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, just stay positive I think more than anything. Stay hungry and just stay I think aggressive. Q. So how do you avoid getting like butterflies in your stomach knowing that a big Grand Slam is coming? SERENA WILLIAMS: You don't. I had butterflies today. I will have butterflies at the Open. Hopefully I will have seven singles matches at the Open. You know, I think it almost is exciting to have butterflies, because it means that you care about it so much and you still get nervous. I think when the day comes and I'm not nervous and don't have butterflies, then I need to start rethinking what I'm doing. Q. But the nerves rarely affect your play outside of maybe third set against Lisicki, right? You go out there and you're nervous, but you can still play very well. SERENA WILLIAMS: Sometimes. I was super nervous at the Roland Garros final, like I don't think I played well at all in that final. Even on one point when I was serving for the match, I just remember hitting a backhand so far out it was ‑‑I thought, okay. I was so nervous, so it definitely affects my play. I just try to breathe through it and I try to overcome it. Q. Would you say this is the most dominate you've been in your career against the rest of the field? And how do you think you can sort of achieve this sort of consistency tournament to tournament? SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I took some time off, and I was really disappointed in how I played the last month. Even though I won Sweden, I was not happy with the way I played. So I went home and was working with my dad a lot and just going back to the basics. I mean, I didn't show it so much in this tournament. Hopefully I can continue to bring that game out. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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