Venus Williams defeats Jelena Jankovic
7-5, 6-0

VENUS WILLIAMS

Q. Venus, this is the third bagel set you've won in 2012 so far, only two
tournaments. That's not too bad for somebody who hadn't played in so many
months.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, I really lose track of the score. Like I remember two of
those bagels, but not the third.
I get so focused nowadays really, I just -- I try not to lose serve, and so
it feels good to close the second out like that.

Q. What were the keys, Venus, such a big difference between the first and
second set scores? What were the keys?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think in the first set I was finding my rhythm. I
hadn't played her in a long time, just kind of finding the right rh ythm out
there and getting used to any new patterns she might have.
I think in the second set everything started flowing for me, I mean landing,
and I was moving forward and playing my aggressive game. Honestly, I don't
know how it went that nicely for me. Just everything landed, and she hit a
few errors, and that helped me a lot.

Q. Especially in the second set looked like you were really going for your
forehand to make the points short. Was that your plan?

VENUS WILLIAMS:
I just like to go for it in general, but on clay I do try to exercise some
kind of patience. But in general I do like to. I was hitting so many cross
courts, just kind of started going down the line some and tried not to be
that predictable, but the first set was so close and it could have went any
way, so it was good to have it go mine. And actually winning a match in
straight sets is something I'm not used to yet.

Q. Is this about as well as you've played in a long time?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. The second set was really nice. I think more
than anything I'm very focused, especially once I'm able to start to really
get into the match, then my focus, I think, and my mental game really kicks
in, so that really felt there kind of once we got to 3-3 in the first.

Q. You've obviously played a number of matches now. Which one are you the
most proud of in terms of your wins that you kind of came out on top of?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. All of them actually. All of them because I
don't ever really know how it's going to turn out. My whole mentality is so
different now.
Like before, I knew I could win matches, and now I just don't even know
what's going to happen when I walk on the court. So it's so different. So I
always feel like I'm stepping into the unknown.

Q. Venus, Serena said in Miami that clay is actually her favorite surface.
How do you feel about clay? Would you go as far as to say that?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Personally I love clay and I've won a lot of big titles on
clay. Came close to winning the biggest title and it didn't work out. Someone
beat me. (Laughs.)
But you know, I love every surface.

Q. You said after you lost to Radwanska you learned a couple of things about
am coming back a day after a match, and you have to come back tomorrow and
play in the day. What are you going to have to do to get that turnaround
tomorrow?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Just take it easy. Try to get to bed as soon as possible. It
helps today was a shorter match I think. All the matches I played in Miami.
Every day is a variable, so I don't know. Like I'm really learning, figuring
it out as I go, and I think the one thing I do learn is I won't probably
figure it all out, but I can try my best. So yeah.

Q. Venus, how did that backhand feel on the last point?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I thought it was going out. It felt like it
wasn't going to land, but the luck was on my side. It was landing. The whole
set it just started landing. I wish I could play like that every set. If I
knew how, I totally would, but I'm glad it at least happened today.

Q. Venus, it seemed like the crowd was cheering pretty hard for you, harder
than usual probably. Did it feel like that to you? Did you hear any of the
things they said?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I definitely felt the support. It's awesome
when I got here, even just walking around, just the support in the city is
amazing. I feel like I'm a hometown girl, like I was from here. That's what
it feels like. So it's awesome.

Q. Venus, you've obviously had some tremendous accomplishments on court, one
of the biggest ones maybe off court was, you know, kind of your vocal support
of equal prize money at Wimbledon, and obviously the original nine are going
to be here later this week. Can you talk about kind of how proud you are of
kind of being apart of that with respect to Wimbledon and just also a little
bit about your relationship with Billie Jean, which we know has gone back for
years?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. I know a little bit about the history of women's
tennis, not all. I read Billie Jean's book, "You've Come a Long Way, Baby." I
love that book.
So I feel grateful to have this job. I mean there are times in history where
women didn't have equal rights, African-Americans, so there's so many people
who fought for me to have this opportunity here, so I think that the fact
that it's the 40-year anniversary is very special. I'll be there to celebrate
it. Even if I have a match, I want to take part.

Q. What do you think it is about tennis that has made it the biggest women's
sport of all?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Billie Jean King. Two words. Three words. Yes. (Laughs). All
the people who believed, you know, all those people that were in the
beginning got on board. It was something special. Tennis is a special sport.

Q. Venus, it seemed like from about maybe the third game you were kind of
starting to play -- you started a little bit slow. Did it feel like that?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. Going into every match I always think how much energy
can I save, and then when I start losing, then I say, okay, I have to spend.
So that's kind of -- I start moving my feet and I start saying I have to run.
So that's kind of my mentality. It's like, okay, I can't get by just -- you
know. So I have to start moving and doing a lot more. So I always try and see
like if I can save a little bit in the tank, but it never really works. But
it's very hard to change that mentality because there's not hing worse than
nothing left and it's a terrible feeling. So I'm still trying to figure out
ways to psych myself out not to think that way, but I haven't found it yet.
But I'm still trying.

End of Interview