Serena Williams defeats Venus Williams
6-1, 6-2

Semifinal Round

SERENA WILLIAMS

DANNY KENDALL: First question for Serena, please.

Q. Serena, just as far a s how that match went, half, you want to feel sorry
for your sister, but is it a different level when you're completely taking
down your sister versus another opponent?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I think so, but when I'm out there, I'm really just
focused on the ball. I don't really focus on anything else, and I just try to
do the best I can.

Q. Obviously every time you two play people talk about how tough it is
playing your sister, but al so you guys are playing your third match in two
days. Is this a bigger factor for this particular matchup?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. No, I definitely think -- especially for Venus. I mean
she'll never admit it, ever, but I don't think she was 100 percent. But you
will never get that out of her, and quite frankly, three matches for her is
much tougher than three matches for me. And so you know, it's definitely not
easy, because I'm struggling, and I can't imagine what she must be feeling.

Q. More about Venus, are you pretty happy with her week --

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah.

Q. -- and the way she's played considering--

SERENA WILLIAMS: She's had a great week, and I feel like, honestly, if she
hadn't had to play so many matches, it would have been a much tougher match.
She, I think, goes for a lot, and you know, I don't know what the result
would have been.
So I think that's positive-looking for her, and she can see the next -- her
next tournament be really more positive for that.

Q. Just looking forward to the final, fourth final of the year, which is
fanta stic.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. Woo-hoo!

Q. Not bad. So you could play the winner of Jelena or Voegele. Can you talk
about Jelena specifically, just a different matchup obviously than today and
what you'll need to do.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. She doesn't miss. She gets a lot of balls back and
likes to go down the line. I'll be ready for her. She's been playing well, I
think, the past month; she's been really consistent. So I'll have my work cut
out for me. It'll be interesting.

Q. Do you know anything about Jankovic's opponent in the semifinal, Voegele?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I've seen her play a little bit. I'm not sure if I've played
her or not. I don't know. No. Okay.
She's a tough cookie, and we saw that by beating Caroline. So I can't go in
there and be like, oh, I'm going to beat her. But I never underestimate my
opponents, and she could come out and try to beat me, or beat me. So it'll be
a really good match, I think.

Q. Serena, do you think you watch more women's tennis now than you maybe did
earlier in your career, like on television or --

SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I watch much less.

Q. You do?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I watch zero women's tennis, and that's not because I don't
like it. Women's tennis rocks. (Laughs).
And I think it's a bad thing. I think I should watch more, but I've gone a
little crazy and I just don't want to see my opponents. I'd rather go out and
play my game and then have my coach or my dad tell me what to do and just
focus on me. So I don't watch at all, which is weird.

Q. Is it because like if you watch, then yeah, you're just more concerned
about what they might do?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. More concerned. I'm like, oh, she's going to do this.
And you know, and istart playing that way instead of playing my game, and I
always said if I played my game, I think I can play anyone and win against
anyone, as long as I play my game and I play well. So in order for me to do
that, I can't be focused on what someone else is doing.

Q. It seems like there's a comfort level you have in this court. Here
obviously the results speak for themselve s. Can you explain why that is
where you seem to really control your opponents? And not that the wins are
easy for you, but they look easy.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. No. I love playing this court. I love this tournament,
and I think it's a good clay court. Like sometimes you play on certain clay
courts and they're not good and they're funny and you can't really slide or
it's just weird. This one I think is a really good one, particularly this
year, the past two years I've played it's been really, really good.

Q. With both Caroline and Jelena, they were ranked No. 1 in the world and
they have both fallen off a bit and tried to make their way back. is there
something you've observed in the way they play; they've both kind of gone
back and forth in the rankings and perhaps why that is for them?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, not really. I think for Caroline, she played really
well, and everyone improved to be at her level, because she was No. 1. She's
really young, so she obviously is doing the same thing, and I t hink she's
improved. She's gotten so fit and it's just a matter of time before I think
she comes back, if not at the top, at least somewhere close to the top of the
rankings.

Q. Can you talk for a second about how special it was to have both your boxes
in one box today? I know you guys have been through a lot since you last
played. And you know, your teams have changed a little bit, and it was nice
to see all of them sitting together?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. We've definitely been through a lot since our last
match. But yeah, we all come together at the end and we just try to love each
other like we always do.

DANNY KENDALL: Any more questions? Okay. Thank you very much.

End of Interview