AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 18, 2021

Serena Williams

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/S. Williams

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Were you nervous during that match at all?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I wouldn't say I was nervous, no.

Q. What do you think was the difference today?

SERENA WILLIAMS: The difference today was errors. I made so many errors
today, so...

Honestly, it was opportunities where I could have won. I could have been up
5-Love. I just made so many errors, so...

Q. Could you have imagined, you had not a single forehand winner the first
set?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, but I had a lot of forehand unforced errors. It was a
big error day for me today.

Q. How did you feel this morning? How was your warmup? Did you feel like you
were hitting the ball well?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I felt well. I felt like I was hitting well. I was
hitting well this whole tournament. Even the first couple games I played
well. Even then I had so many opportunities.

Yeah, so it was just -- I don't know. Yeah, just made too many mistakes
there, easy mistakes. Not like I was on the run or anything, they were just
easy, easy mistakes.

Q. What do you take away from the experience of the last few weeks in what's
going to be required of you personally to pursue tennis over the next six
months, and also in terms of the sport in general, the complications of
everything?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I feel like I haven't really thought about that so
much. But I think going through last year with the pandemic was definitely
interesting. So I have a little experience under my belt with that, I guess.

But, yeah, those are things that I haven't really thought about.

Q. There was a really poignant moment when you walked off the court. You put
your hand over your heart. What was going through your head in that moment?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. The Aussie crowd is so amazing, so it was nice
to see.

Q. Some people wondered if you were almost saying farewell.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. If I ever say farewell, I wouldn't tell anyone
(smiling). So...

Q. The unforced errors through the match, considering how well up you played
to get to this stage, what do you feel caused that? Was it just one of those
bad days at the office?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I'm done (tearing up).

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports