Day 3  - Venus Williams Interview
Wednesday, May 25, 2005

 Q. That was a bit of a challenge, wasn't it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. It was a challenging match, but I think the best part
was, you know, she's a player with variety, so sometimes she's hitting harder
and sometimes she's hitting with more spin. So I got to see everything which,
you know, I'll see throughout the rest of the tournament.

Q. Good to get a match like that, somebody who mixes it up?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah, definitely. You know, if you get used to seeing
only hard balls and only soft balls, sometimes you get into, you know, a
particular rhythm.

Q. With Serena not here, Venus, do you feel like you're flying the Williams'
flag, that you have something to uphold?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It has been said (smiling).

Q. Is that a good position to be in?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Always, yeah. Of course.

Q. How do you feel you are playing?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Playing good. Playing good. I feel really good in the long
rallies, you know. I feel like my return is also good. Just in general I'm
pretty comfortable on the clay.

Q. Back to Fed Cup for just a second. You had a chance to look at the future
of women's tennis. Two young girls, Brittany Augustine, Asia Muhammad, who
maybe within three years, by the time some of you guys could be fading, they
could be making a very big impact on the game. Can you elaborate a little bit
on what you saw hitting with these two young players?

VENUS WILLIAMS: They were really good. They were, first of all, great
attitudes, which is pretty much, you know, the whole battle almost, willing
to work hard. They were just having fun. That's what I liked most of all. And
then they were very talented. It's really up to them how far they want to
take it.

Q. Do you think at 13 it's still too early for you to assess how good they
can be?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't do any assessing these days. I leave it up to
whoever, you know, is playing to do their own assessment. I leave it up to
you.

Q. You were 13 once. Where do you think they are right now compared to where
you were at age 13?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Mentally they're much more solid than I was. I was pretty
much a laughing hyena, very oblivious.

I think they're, you know, on a higher level mentally than I was. I was also
around this height at 13, too, so I probably had more leverage.

Q. Looks like you're going to play Karatantcheva next round, who is 15. Does
it surprise you to see how young girls are on the tour now and being
successful at that age?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I don't think so. There's always good players coming.
That's the way it is because tennis keeps going.

Q. Do they seem younger? Do the seem bigger, stronger when you were 16 and 17
playing on the tour?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think there's a lot more younger players in comparison to
at the time when I was playing, a lot more younger people breaking through
the ranks, it seems. When I was in my teens, it was just a handful of girls,
it seemed.

Q. Any guess as to why that is?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I have no idea. I'm no expert.

Q. You said you were flying the Williams flag. What does the Williams flag
consist of? What is it made of? What kind of fabric?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Of course, you know, only fabrics from couture. More than
anything, just having fun. That's the main thing. I just feel the more you
enjoy yourself, the better things are, the better, at least for me, that I
play. So that's like number one. Of course, leave it all out on the court.

But, yeah, I never really thought about what Williams flag stood for. Kind of
put me on the spot there.

Q. Do you have a sense that a lot of people do follow how you and Serena are
doing, so to speak?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Follow our progress?

Q. Yes.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think so, yeah.

Q. How did it feel to finally win a title after 12 or 13 months?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was nice. It was nice. But then at the same time
I've won quite a few titles, so it was kind of, I guess, familiar, to say the
least.

Q. But it felt good?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah, awesome.

Q. Can you explain what happened in the third set? You were leading 4?0, then
she came back. Was it something she did or you let down a little or a little
combination?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think there were just a few moments where I was rushing a
little too much. Then there were times when she was just playing some great
tennis, put some good shots together. I expected as much from her because
she's a very good player. But then at the same time I felt like I needed to
be solid all the time. Sometimes I was just ?? a few too many errors.

Q. Can you also reflect back to Miami for us when you beat Serena. How much
did that victory give you mentally to feel better about yourself or that your
game was going where it wanted? It had been a long time since you had beaten
her, a little distance between then.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was all good, I guess. It's not something I think
about every day. I guess the matches I enjoy most are definitely against the
Top 10 players. All the other matches, sure, are challenging also, but it's
great to play against the best of the best and then meet the challenge every
time. So it was nice.

Q. Serena specifically?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, because she's like, you know, toughest player on tour a
lot of the times.

Q. Zina thinks that your game is still evolving and that you're really close
to sort of a major breakthrough where your transition game and net game will
be something you're going to be going to. I know they talk to you about it
all the time. Do you actually feel like you're ready to push through in that
stage where you're going to become more of a net?rusher, someone who takes
over the net, or do you kind of see yourself the way you were when you were
winning four or five years ago, winning a lot of points inside the baseline,
mostly from the back?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I like this philosophy because sometimes I'm tired of hanging
out on the baseline. But I feel like it's about time to break camp. When I'm
playing my best, I'm always, of course, moving forward. But that's pretty
much anyone. All the great players are always making something happen. But I
feel like I'm quite good at the net and I have like a lot of leverage.

Yeah, that's something Zina and I talked about. I'm getting there.

Q. She also talked about how you have to learn to trust, not just at the net
itself, but trusting that you can make the approach and not backing off. Do
you feel more trust within yourself that you're not going to get passed or
hit a lousy volley? >

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think that for me it's just all about dedicating more time
to practice at the net, because I'm like a player that gets carried away and
I start practicing one thing, then three hours later I'm still practicing
that and it's time to leave court and I haven't practiced anything else. I
have to I think spend more time at the net in practice because it comes first
on the practice court.

Q. Is that going to be a necessary part of your game if you're going to go
back to the top again, or do you feel like you can get back to the top again
essentially winning points from the back?>

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think either way.

Q. Talk you a little bit about what you did in Istanbul.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Like what?

Q. Away from the courts, your impression. Kind of a bit off the beaten tennis
track.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, of course, I did the tennis on the bridge, then we went
to the bazaar, and also to the Ottoman castle. Not a lot of time to do a ton
of things. I enjoyed my time there. If I never get to go back, at least I had
the opportunity to go. I don't know, I never dreamed I'd be going to Turkey.

Q. Did you buy anything in the bazaar?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Maybe (laughter). I tried to resist. You know, old habits die
hard.

Q. What did you buy?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Maybe I'll wear some of it next time around. I bought mostly
jewelry, though.

Q. How are you staying healthy these days? You've been healthier the last
year probably than for a while. Any secret to it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Lots of prayer, lots of determination to stay healthy, I
guess less twisting of the ankles. I usually tape them every match now. If I
do twist them, I have a head start so it's not going to go as far, and during
the match the swelling will stay down. Just doing everything I can. Those
ankle twists have really set me back a whole lot.

Q. You just mentioned how oblivious and unaware you were coming on tour. With
the young girls you see today, is there something different in their
mentality, maturity?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah. I'm not just talking about young girls on the tour;
just young people in general. All you have to do is watch a video on MTV and
you know a lot about the world. Things I think have changed. Even with my
nephews and nieces, they just are so much faster than what I was. I think
it's just the way of the world.

Q. Istanbul, this week it's going to be the site of a huge soccer match.
Traditionally it's been a meeting ground of cultures. Looking at it as a
meeting ground of east and west, were you touched?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't understand the question.

Q. Did you have any impressions of Istanbul in terms of it being a meeting
ground of eastern and western cultures?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think the history there just speaks for itself. I
guess at this time it's pretty even as far as there being kind of more
Turkish people, more Muslims. I think historically for me it was very
interesting. I'm not sure what you're talking about with the soccer. I follow
tennis, not soccer.

Q. It's going to host its largest international sporting event later this
week.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think it's a great city. I think a lot of parts of the
world have been put off because, you know, of recent events in the world, the
climate of the world politically, that kind of thing, and also because it's
mostly a Muslim religion country. I think by having tennis events and having
these kind of soccer events, that kind of thing, will bring people back. I
think a lot of people in the States also don't know too much about Turkey,
that kind of thing.

I enjoyed it. I was hoping to be part of something bigger than what I'm
doing, hitting balls back and forth.

Q. Can you tell us where your discussions are with Zina in terms of the next
round of Fed Cup, what you're feeling the likelihood you'll show?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I love Zina. I just feel like if she's the captain, I always
want to play for her. But I think she also probably needs me. Is it on clay?

Q. It will be indoor clay.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Obviously, I'm good on this surface. She'll probably need me
there.

Q. So right now you're leaning towards going?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's inside information (whispering).