S. KUZNETSOVA/S. Williams
7-6, 5-7, 7-5

An interview with:

SERENA WILLIAMS

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you cope with defeat when it was so close?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Um, you know, it was definitely close. I had chances to win.
Just thinking about things that I could have done better.

Q. She made it very hard for you to come back, didn't she in the third set?
It was so close.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I made it hard for myself a lot, too, more than
anything.

Q. Obviously you were down in the first two sets and you fought back, and in
the third you got an early break. As that set wore on, was fatigue a factor
at all for you?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I wasn't tired at all. I'm not tired at all. I felt like --
I felt like I didn't -- I had a chance to do a little bit better, and I
didn't.

Q. In a situation like that when you're behind, things are looking kind of
desperate, do you think to yourself, hey, I'm Serena Williams. I've gone
through this a hundred times before, and come out on top?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, actually I don't ever think that. I think more or less
just play the point. I feel like at that point you don't really have any
pressure; you have nothing to lose.
You just keep, you know, keep going, keep fighting.

Q. She's had some trouble closing out matches in the past lately and in Slams
and she had trouble closing out the match against you in Australia, as well.
What did you see in her game today?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, what do you mean, what did I see in her game?

Q. How do you think she played under pressure and down the stretch overall?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I think she played well overall. Obviously she played
well to walk away with the win, so yeah.

Q. Close losses are tough on any athlete. Do you suffer these things long or
short? Where do you fall on that?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, um, I mean, I just deal with losses a little bit
better nowadays. Honestly I think I lost because of me and not because of
anything she did.
You know, I don't think that makes it easier, but it makes me realize that,
you know, had I done different things I would have been able to win.

Q. What are your goals as you now look forward to Wimbledon and the grass
court season in England?

SERENA WILLIAMS: My goal is just to, you know, do better than last year at
Wimbledon, hopefully.

Q. So what would you have done differently in this match?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, um, I think I started out a little slow and, you know,
I wasn't trying to, but I did, I got down a double break. Maybe I could have
won the first set, and then maybe I could have won the second.
In the third I had an opportunity and I got really tight, and I pretty much
gave it to her. It was like, Here, you know, do you want to go to the semis?
Because I don't. She was like, Okay. (laughter.)

Q. So she sort of backed into it?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Pardon?

Q. I'll ask you a different question. Why do you think you got tight?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know. I haven't gotten tight since 2007 in
Australia. I think that was the last time I got tight.
I don't know, I maybe Iput some expectations on myself that I didn't put on
myself initially. You know, I started hitting a lot of shortballs and my arm
locked up a little bit. It was what it was.

Q. If Safina wins the title here, will that authenticate her as the world No.
1, do you think?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I already think she's definitelya uthenticated as the
world No. 1. She's there. She has won four tournaments.

Q. She will have won a Slam, so big difference?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I mean, yeah, sure. But she's No. 1 already. I mostly try to
focus on me nowadays.

Q. We've seen some other records in tennis tide, four straight here or the
five straight at Wimbledon. Once again, the calendar year Grand Slam is out
the window with you and Rafa going out. Can you just talk about how difficult
that is to achieve in tennis?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Um, I guess it's difficult. I didn't have any expectations
on it. I just was kind of trying to feel my way and just do the best that I
could do.
Honestly, I'm glad I didn't go down alone, you know. We both went down
together, so, hey...

Q. Do you see Safina as the favorite at this point in the tournament?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Um, yeah, absolutely. I don't see -- I don't know if -- I
definitely see her as a favorite, for sure.

Q. Could you describe and assess this entire tournament for you, what it was
for you?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, yeah. You know, I started out really bad. Just really
physically I wasn't the best. I was trying to make it. Didn't have great
matches coming in here, and I started out on a losing streak.
You know, I guess I was just on a hope and a dream, and now it's over.

Q. Roger looks like he may well pull this out. Will you be rooting for him
and watching him as the weekend goes on, or do you sort of flush this
tournament out of your system and go do something else?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Um, hmm. Who else is in the tournament? I like Del Potro's
game, because he's young and he's tall and he's really nice tome. And Roger
is really nice to me, too. Obviously I love Roger.
But, yeah, him, and I like Gonzalez. Well, Gonzalez is hitting too many drop
shots, so he kind of got me a little frustrated. So yeah.
I don't know. Maybe -- I like Del Potro. I don't know if he's the favorite,
but I'd just like to see him do well.

Q. Most every tennis player goes from clay, from the dirt and the sticky
stuff, to grass. What's it like in the first moments when you step out on the
grass court and start the next chapter of the tour? What does it feel like?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, for me it's frustrating, because the balls are flying
and going so fast. It's just like, you know -- it's totally different, and I
always start out really, really bad, so it's just frustrating for me.

Q. Do you wish there was more of a gap between the seasons?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I mean, because now it's like, Okay, well, I lost here.
Maybe I can do better at Wimbledon. I wish it were tomorrow.