AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 29, 2015

Serena Williams

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

S. WILLIAMS/M. Keys
7-6, 6-2
An interview with:
SERENA WILLIAMS

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What impressed you most about her game? First time you played her.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I was impressed by her ability to stay in the match.
You know, she never let up at all till the end. I think that is a really
great quality to have.

Q. What were you most happy about with your game today?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I was just happy to get through it today. And I think
I was able to serve big when I needed to. So that really helped me out a lot.

Q. What does her ball feel like compared to other players you go up against?
SERENA WILLIAMS: She hits a very, very hard ball, but she also hits it very
deep. So it's a little different trying to prepare for that. But, yeah, so I
wasn't ready really for that.

Q. How is your health? You've been coughing a lot during and after matches.
Is that something that's been bothering you for a long time or just the last
week or so?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Just the last week, but I'm doing much better. Much better
today. Every day I'm getting better. So, yeah, I'm feeling a lot better than
I did the past couple of days.

Q. You said on court you were surprised; didn't expect to be in the finals
this time.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah.

Q. Just because of Hopman Cup? You won Singapore, the US Open, why were you
thinking it wouldn't set up for you here?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Wow, put it that way. Yeah, I didn't play well, I don't
think, at Hopman. I was so off. I felt like I wasn't moving well. I just
wasn't feeling great on the court. It's been so long since I've even been in
a final here. I was kind of like, Oh, let me just try. My theory now is to
relax and play the match as best as I can. When I step on the court and hear
the announcer, I don't have to win anymore. I can just relax and have fun.

Q. What would your read be of Madison's future, how far she can go in the
game?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think she'll be really good. I think she can go really,
really far. I think she can be the best in the world. The way she played
today I definitely think she has potential to be No. 1 and win Grand Slams.
It's exciting to see.

Q. Obviously you're happy to see a young American emerge like this. Explain
your thoughts about that.
SERENA WILLIAMS: It great to see her do so well as an American, as well.
Myself and my sister, we've been fighting so long. Now she's coming up. So
many other Americans, as well. But her in particular, just doing so well
consistently. She just has this desire to be the best. That's what it takes.

Q. She's almost like the other Williams sister almost, the younger one coming
through. Is it just in time for American tennis?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's just in time, absolutely. I definitely don't plan on
retiring after this tournament or anything, but, yeah, it's really good
timing to get her in the mix.

Q. Once when it was cold, some wind, mothers were telling your children,
Cover up. Don't stay half naked. But you went with all your back that the
wind could touch you. Don't you think you should cover yourself a little bit
more?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, you know, a modern woman now wear modern designs.

Q. Looking forward to the final, all the numbers go your way if we're looking
at statistics in terms of head-to-head and your success here in the finals
here in Melbourne. Do you put that stuff out of your head?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Maria is playing great. She's in the tournament
only because she's a fighter and only because she refuses to give up. So,
yeah, it's a new match. She has nothing to lose, once again. She has only
things to gain. And I feel that way, too. I feel I don't. I've won this
tournament several times. I don't have to go out there and have another
title. I want it, but it's not life or death for me. I think that helps me he
relax. So, yeah, she absolutely has nothing to lose, and I have nothing to
lose, so it will be fun.

Q. Where did this attitude of just playing for fun and not having to win come
from?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, it started last year because I was so hyped on getting
to 18 and I lost every Grand Slam early. I didn't make it to any
quarterfinals. Then after Wimbledon I decided to just not not necessarily not
care, but just relax. It all kind of came back for me after that, so... And I
think it's been working.

Q. What do you remember about your first match against Maria here in '05? You
had a losing head-to-head and saved match points and won.
SERENA WILLIAMS: The only thing I remember is the inside-out forehand on
match point. I hit it for a winner. I hit it and I walked to the next side as
if I knew it was already going to be a winner. It's interesting. That's
really the only thing I remember.

Q. Do you remember your reaction surprising you is what you're saying?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, because I watched it a couple years ago on YouTube. I
just remember I hit this forehand inside-out on match point on a good serve.
I didn't react like she was going to get it back. I just walked to the deuce
side. I was like, Wow! It's crazy.

Q. How much pride do you take in your record against her? She's been probably
the second-best player of this era in a lot of ways.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think she's been a wonderful player this era. She's
so consistent. She just always wants to get better.

Q. How much pride do you take in your record against her?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I take a lot of pride in it. But it's not one
thing I'm thinking about, Well, I don't want this to happen. I just go out
there and play. I think my game matches up well against her. I love playing
her. I think it's fun. I love her intensity. For whatever reason, I love
playing. I just have the time of my life.

Q. What do you remember about the last time you lost to her? Do you remember?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. She was 17, super young, and I think I was basically
underhand serving. It was in L.A.

Q. On the men's side we talk about the great rivalries. Those guys have to
talk about how the rivalries have changed over the course of the years. How
has that rivalry with you and Maria and that relationship changed over the
last 10 or 11 years?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I mean, we don't play each other that much.
Sometimes we do. The past year and a half, two years, we played each other
more than we normally do. So, yeah, I don't know.

Q. When asked about what her confidence level was like coming into the match
against you, she said, I'm good enough to be here. That should be all I'm
worrying about. Is that the way to approach it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it's great. I'm happy to be in the final myself.
Yeah, hopefully I'll do better.

Q. How are you feeling? Is it the chest? Is it affecting your running
capacity?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I hope not. I've been keeping my points short. So we'll see.
But I feel like I'm able to run and stuff, yeah.

Q. A lot of people talk about the specific intensity that you bring to each
match, especially against Maria. How do you marry that intensity with what
you're talking about, relaxing and having fun?
SERENA WILLIAMS: That's a good question. It's great to have good intensity,
and at the same time to keep calm and not get over worked up. That's what
I've been working on, making sure I stay super, super intense, but not to a
point where it affects my game. I'm always pumped up and always ready, but at
the same time I'm like, Always, you need to stay calm at this moment and this
point.

Q. Do you consider what you have with Maria a rivalry? Some people would say
it's too one-sided to be called that.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I can't answer that. I don't think I can answer that
question.

Q. You talk about the second to last game, match point after match point
after match point. What was going through your mind?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I just thought I was going to serve it out
regardless. I may as well keep fighting. Every time I had a match point, I
just pushed instead of going for my shots. Or she hit an ace or a big serve
or I hit a weak return because her serve was really well today. She hit it
for a winner. I think more than anything she just went for broke at that
point. She had nothing to lose times a million, so she just really went for
everything.

Q. What is going to be the most important factor in the final against Maria,
and how important is getting off to a really good, solid start going to be?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's going to be important for me to get off to a good
start, I think. With that being said, if not, I'm going to be ready to fight.
I think she really wants this. I can see that she wants to do well. She wants
to improve her game. She wants to take it to the next level. So, you know, I
have to know that she wants to win probably a lot.

Q. This has been a great tournament for you, especially at a times in your
career where you haven't been doing as well elsewhere you were able to manage
it here. Have you felt that feeling coming back this time around? You had
talked about how it had not been going your way here.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, but I won the Open and I won some tournaments last
year. It's not like my career was on the brink of destruction, you know. So I
don't know. I seem to do well in Australia when my career is a little shaky.
But I won a couple times when it wasn't so shaky.

Q. It's like a title fight, the No. 1 and 2 against each other.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it's great for women's tennis. I think it's good for
me and Maria. I'm excited. Like I said, I love playing her. I look forward to
it. I didn't expect to get to the finals of this tournament when I first got
here because I wasn't playing great. So I'm happy to be here. Yeah, I'm just
happy, like I said, to get past the quarterfinals of a slam. Fourth round
actually, outside the Open.

Q. What do you make of having a good number of African Americans in the top
100?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's great. I think it's wonderful. Myself and Venus have
been playing for years. It's so good to see people of different color be able
to play a sport that was, you know, once dominated by one race.

Q. Do you attribute it to anything other than you and Venus inspiring them?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you can't put everything on me and Venus. I think
there were so many other African American players, like Althea Gibson, Zina
Garrison, Lori McNeil, Camille Benjamin. There has been so many players that
have done really, really well and inspired us to play. I still talk to Zina
all the time and she inspires me. Just knowing what she's gone through makes
me want to work harder.

Q. Do you let yourself envision holding up the trophy at the end of the
tournament?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I did in the first couple rounds because I wasn't playing
great. I thought, Just think of the end, think of the end. And I'm still
here, so let's see.

Q. What about coaching in the future? A Fed Cup captain role or something
like that in the future?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I could see that. I love going to the Olympics to trade
pins. I think that's my ticket in. I could definitely see me doing Fed Cup
work.


FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports