INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA (WOMEN)

May 15, 2008

Serena Williams

ROME, ITALY

S. WILLIAMS/S. Errani
6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's better the first match, or today's?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I definitely played better in my first match. But it's
over, so I'm moving on to the next.

Q. Last week the men were saying that the courts are quite slippery out
there. Have you found that?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No.

Q. They all said they were a bit quicker than normal red clay.
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's slower to me than it usually is here in Rome, so I
think it goes really well with the French Open clay. Usually it's faster
here, but this year it's slower to me.

Q. (From Italian) How do you feel? Do you feel prepared for the clay season
going into the French Open?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I feel very prepared. I feel like I finally got enough
tournaments under my belt and I've played enough matches on the clay. It's a
good feeling to go into something prepared.

Q. (From Italian) What do you think of your opponent today, Errani?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I thought she was an unbelievable fighter and she never gave
up. She has a great spirit.

Q. Do you feel this year maybe you're fitter and stronger coming to the
French than you've been in the previous years when you had more injury
problems?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I'm definitely feeling like I'm much fitter than I was
even last year, and probably the year before. But I didn't play the year
before.
But it's good, because going into this event I'm feeling like I have enough
match play and I'm ready on the clay.

Q. (From Italian) You seem to read a lot in between change of ends. Is it
something that you write beforehand specifically for the match that you're
playing, or is it something that you read periodically from the same source?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's something that I write for each match before I play
that particular match, so it helps me to stay focused. It varies from each
opponent to opponent.

Q. For example, today what did you write for Errani?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I can't disclose that. No, that's undisclosed
information.

Q. (From Italian) Would you please comment on Justine's retirement and what
sort of opponent was she over the years and are you sorry that she has left
the circuit?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I commented yesterday that she was great for, you
know, especially for Belgian tennis. She was really good for that.
She won a lot of tournaments and gave me a lot of problems, so it's always
sad to see such a champion leave.