TELECOM ITALIA MASTERS

May 14, 2004

Serena Williams

ROME, ITALY

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Serena, please.

Q. Must have been a fairly tough start after a long and difficult day, so you
had a difficult first set and seemed to breeze through it in the second?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It was a bit difficult. I was trying to get the feel of her
game because I hadn't played her before. She's one of those young, blazing
Russians, so I knew I had to be ready.

Q. The conditions playing at night - humid weather, cold - didn't bother you,
or you got used to it quite quickly?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I warmed up for like 15 minutes before so that I could make
sure that I was warn because I knew it was gonna be really chilly, so... It
was weird because you could see your breath through the air. It was cold.

Q. When was the last time you were on the Pallacorda court?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, good record. I haven't lost a match there. I think I
played Nathalie Tauziat maybe in '99, '98 - I don't know.

THE MODERATOR: '99, I think.

SERENA WILLIAMS: '99, yeah, it was a good match. It was my first win against
her so it was like, "Yeah." I have lots of fond memories there. It's a
comfortable court. I like it.

Q. Now you have three good matches under your belt. How do you feel? How is
the confidence?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's getting better each match. (Spraying?) a little bit,
but it's fine, it's okay. I'm just excited to still be in the draw and
playing pretty decent tennis, for sure.

Q. There's a chance you're going to play Jennifer in the next round. What are
your thoughts on that? How are you going to approach that?

SERENA WILLIAMS: We have tough matches, it should be a fan favorite
(smiling). I don't know. She's been playing a lot better the past few weeks
and so I'm - as usual - gonna have to bring my "A" game against her because
she always plays really well. We'll see. It should be fun. I love playing her.

Q. Have you played her already on the clay court?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I played her - one, two, three - three that I can
remember on clay. She's won one, I know I've won two.

THE MODERATOR: That's right (smiling).

Q. What is the hardest thing about playing her, and what do you think you can
do most to upset her?

SERENA WILLIAMS: What is the hardest thing about playing Jennifer... I don't
know. She just gets a lot of balls back and she's a fighter. I get a lot of
balls back and I'm a fighter, so it's just like we're playing against
ourselves kind of in a way.

Q. Even when the weather is humid and cold, it doesn't bother your knee?

SERENA WILLIAMS: The cold isn't the best for it, but it's been doing much
better. Today it was okay. It gets a little stiff because of the cold
weather, but it was okay.