Serena Williams defeats Marina Erakovic
6-2, 6-2

SERENA WILLIAMS

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please?

Q. Serena, now in your second match on clay did you feel more comfortable on
the surface than you did in the first one?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I definitely felt more comfortable, happy sliding. I
didn't practice that much on clay, just one day before I got here.
So I felt good, though. I love the clay.

Q. Serena, it's pretty hot out there, and there were a lot of fans wondering
why you came out in a long sleeve as opposed to a tank top or something like
that.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I know. I always practice in long-sleeve tops. So I love
when at Grand Slams I always wear dresses. And on smaller tournaments, like
-- I guess not small because this isn't small, I like to wear long sleeves. I
don't have to put sun cream on my shoulders. It's a lot easier. And Nike's
Dry Fit, so it keeps you nice and cool.

Q. Are you sticking around for your sister's match today?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, because I'm going to cool down and watch a little bit
of her and stuff, so hopefully she'll do well.

Q. Serena, your opponent never faced you before. You're a tough matchup for
anybody, but do you feel like you have an advantage over someone who's never
faced you before?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I feel like we go in there kind of with the same thing, like
I've never faced her and she's never faced me, so if anything, she probably
has an advantage because she for sure knows my game, and you know, I probably
don't know her game as well, so I look at it like that.

Q. Serena, you said the other day that you feel like women's tennis is where
it is because of the original nine. I'm kind of wondering if that could
happen today, if nine of you could stand up and change the sport or is that
not possible to happen in today's day and age.

SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, I think women's tennis right now is doing amazing.
We're getting paid the same amount as the men. We have a shorter season than
the men. I think they need to stand up for themselves right now because I
think we've done everything that we could. Thankful to everyone, you know,
Billie Jean and everyone that was a part of that original nine. So I don't
know. There's obviously issues that we can work out and do better with, but I
think for the most part, I am on the council and I'm right there for a lot of
decisions.

Q. Serena, in that first set, I guess the fourth game took about 15 minutes,
several deuces, but then after that you seemed to really kind of find your
rhythm. Was there something in that set, I mean in that game that you lost
where you came back out of it and kind of took off after that?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I lost that game and that was kind of frustrating
because I spent 15 minutes to lose. I'd rather have lost in three minutes or
two minutes.
But I think that definitely put pressure on her to know that my return was
looking good, and I thought she served really well. So maybe that helped.
Even though I lost t he game, you know, you lose the battle but you win the
war kind of thing.

Q. It seemed pretty straightforward out there today. Did you still come out
of it with specific things you want to work on?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Definitely there's a lot of things I want to work on, and
I'm really excited to be playing a match and some matches here because it
really gives you confidence in things that you want to work on, not just for
today and tomorrow, but for the rest of the clay court season and the spring,
leading into the summer.
So it's good, and I'm really -- today was a good match. She was pretty
consistent out there. She didn't make too many errors, so it was good for me
to kind of be out there and be consistent as well.

Q. Serena, you said you're going to be out there watching your sister play?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm not going to be out there. It's too hot.

Q. Oh, okay. But anyway, now that you've advanced to the quarterfinals, do
you start to think, well, on Saturday I could be facing her again here in
this tournament or is it still too early to even think of that?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I didn't even look at the draw. I don't know. So I hope
we both get there. I mean I have to win another match, and I really, really
hope we both get there, so we'll see, you know.

Q. Serena, you've talked a lot recently about how much you enjoy playing on
clay now. You haven't reached the finals of the French since you won it.

SERENA WILLIAMS: But I won it, so.

Q. You did win it.
SERENA WILLIAMS: A win. That's all that matters. It's a lot more than a lot
of people can say.

Q. That's true. Do you feel like you're ready to do this again this year?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm always ready to win the French Open. I love Paris; it's
my favorite city in the world, and I hate leaving there. So I'm always ready
to win the French Open and I never do. So hopefully this will be the 20th
year in a row that I'm ready to win.

Q. Serena, there were some little kids out there that were freaking out when
they got your wrist band. They were excited. What's the craziest thing
someone's asked you for after a match?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, besides the obvious (laughs), yeah. Thank you. I think
we'll end on that.

Q. Are you a fan of Tiger Woods and has he ever asked you to play a round?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I can't play golf.

Q. Yes, you can.

End of Interview