ROGERS CUP WOMEN

August 7, 2013

Serena Williams

TORONTO, ONTARIO

S. WILLIAMS/F. Schiavone
6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  First tournament on hard in a while.  Just assess how you felt out there.
 How do you think you played?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I felt good.  I felt solid.  Obviously I made a few errors,
but it's just my first match on hard in a really long time.
I also played a really good player, so it was a good match.

Q.  She can be tricky, serving and volleying a bit and mixing it up?  You
seemed to adjust to it, but she throws a lot at you.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It took me a few games to adjust, but it's good that she
played like that because of my next opponent.  Now I feel like I'm completely
adjusted, and I feel good going into the next round.

Q.  I don't know if you know, but there is a men's invitational tournament
here, and part of that is bringing some players who lost early in Montreal
here.  Tomorrow's second night match is James Blake versus Tomic, and there
is no women's invitational in Montreal.  Do you have any comment on that?  I
don't know if you were aware of this.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I just learned about it.  I think, you know, I'm
always up for tennis.  I think tennis is a great thing to have.
I think any time you get more fans out there to watch a great sport that has
especially brought me so much joy and brought me so much good things, it's
good.  I mean, maybe this is --I understand it's like a first-time thing.
 It's never been done before.
It's exciting, gives them a few more matches to play.  They haven't obviously
been able to play enough, and probably it's good for them as well as maybe,
you know, next year we will see some of the women doing that hopefully.
I won't be in that category because I will still be in the tournament.
 (Laughter).
If, by chance, I'm not, you know, we'll see.

Q.  Congrats on the win.  What did you feel was the most successful part in
your game today?  What were you most proud of?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I was thinking.  I think I moved well.  Yeah, I think
I moved really well, which I think is really important.

Q.  After all these years of switching surfaces and everything, even after
what, a three-week break maybe from Bastad to here, any nerves going out on
court because you haven't played on hard since March?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Not today.  Usually I have a lot of nerves going out there,
but today I was, in the beginning, I was so relaxed.  I always feel that way
when I'm playing a Grand Slam champion.  I just feel a little bit more
relaxed and ready to play.

Q.  So it's also more focus because you know if you don't bring your A game
it could be trouble?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Exactly.  For me it's always good to play a player that's
been so high-ranked and that's had a fabulous career so far.

Q.  I'm switching gears here, but I had a chance to talk to Martina Hingis
last night and reflect on some of her early memories here at this tournament.
 Do you recall anything about 2000 and the final against her when you had to
bow out?  Do you have any memories of that that you can share?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No.  I don't remember that at all.  They announced today
that I had been in the finals, and I was, like, When?  (Smiling).  I honestly
thought it was 2011.  Was I in the final in 2011?
No, I won in --oh, no.  Well, 2009.  Was I in the final in 2009?  I think
like --I don't know.  Well, anyway...

Q.  You definitely don't recall.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I don't remember that.  Sorry.  (Smiling).

Q.  You have obviously won here in 2010.  I assume that's sort of a comfort
level with here.  How did you feel coming here?  You often said you enjoy
playing in Toronto.  How did you feel playing here tonight?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I love it in Toronto.  Just traveling around the world,
some cities I have grown to have a good feeling at and I have even good
friends.  So every time I come to Toronto, whether it's for an exhibition or
whether it's for this great tournament at the Rogers Cup, it's fun for me
because all my friends come out.
They only get to see me when I'm here and maybe some other time throughout
the year but not so often.  So any excuse to come to Toronto, I love it.

Q.  Where do you feel at home now:  Paris, LA, Florida?  You have been
traveling a ton, but when you feel like relaxing and kicking back, where is
it now?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Definitely in Florida.  I love it there.  It's just so
relaxing and so at peace.

Q.  But you like Paris a lot too.  You spend a lot of time in Europe, no?
 The last nine months?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I do, but really not so much, because I feel like either I
have been playing a lot or I have been doing better or something.  I feel
like I spend most of my time on the road.
I really haven't been in Paris that much.  I was there for --I can count the
weeks on one hand for off-time.  So, yeah, so I feel like just splitting
those three places...

Q.  You can travel and not really get the urge to spend too much time at
home?  If you're doing 30, 35 weeks, you don't feel like, oh, my God, I just
have to take a break and go...
SERENA WILLIAMS:  That's me all the time.  Like after Wimbledon and -- after
Roland Garros I had to go home, had to go to Florida.  After Wimbledon I
really, really wanted to go back to Florida.  I didn't because I had Bastad,
but I really wanted to go back.
I just feel --I love Florida.  I love being there.  Just love my bed.  You
know, it's just the best.

Q.  You have a new dog?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I got him at the US Open last year, though.

Q.  You still call him a puppy, though?  Can't be a puppy if...
SERENA WILLIAMS:  He is a puppy.  He's a little guy.

Q.  So he's the only one, or do you have two --
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I have three dogs.  You already know Jackie and Lorelei.

Q.  But the puppy is the one you travel with now?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  A little bit.  The girls are going to come to NewYork.

Q.  So all three of them?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, they were all in NewYork last year, so they're
looking forward to it.

Q.  Who does all the dog sitting?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, they don't want to seem spoiled, but they have a
sitter in NewYork.  They always hang out with them, and then they come home
when mommy comes back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports