U.S. OPEN

September 3, 2013

Serena Williams

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

S. WILLIAMS/C. Suarez Navarro
6-0, 6-0

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  When you're in a match that's that one-sided, can you feel compassion for
the person on the other side of the net, or does that not even enter into it?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, you don't really think about it.  You just think
about winning the points and winning the games.  That's all you think about.
 You don't think about --at least, I don't think about anything else.
Maybe after the match or during, I just try to stay in the moment.

Q.  How much of the final score was about what you were doing, about the
wind, the one-handers, affecting her timing?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I definitely think the wind was tough for her, and
especially on that court it just gets really windy down there.  With a one
hand it doesn't help, so it kind of almost worked into my favor.

Q.  Novak called his play flawless out there.  Would you describe yours as
close to that?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Of course not (smiling).  I played good, though.  I played
really good.  I was just more focused than anything.
You know, I like to believe there is room for improvement.

Q.  What flaws did you have?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Um, well, I haven't thought about it yet, but off the bat I
don't --I mean, I think it was very difficult to hit a big serve today
because of the winds, but I didn't get my serve up as much as I wanted to.
But I don't know.  I'm not here to say what I did wrong.  I think I
definitely played well, but, you know, she also gave me some good points.

Q.  You have had lots of dominant stretches in your career, but losing only
13 games in five matches here on your way to the semifinals, is that about as
dominant as you have been at any point in your career?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Ah, I guess so.  Again, I don't know.  I haven't thought
about it yet.  I'm still in the tournament and I'm not thinking about, like,
I'm really dominant now.
I'm just thinking, Okay, I just have a really tough match in the next round
and I really want to do well.

Q.  Do you set different little goals throughout the match, like, Okay, this
game I don't want to do X or I do want to do Y?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, it's so funny.  Just this tournament I started
setting different goals for myself, and it's been really working for me.
So I just started that, and I'm enjoying it.

Q.  A lot of people dismiss your dad outright or just say, hey, he wasn't a
player; doesn't really know the game or know the Xs and Os; he's not much of
a coach.  In conversation with Patrick a couple days ago, he said Richard,
your dad, was the greatest coach of all time; just look at the results.
 Could you sort of go into the Xs and Os or into the details and talk about
why your dad was such a great coach or where you think he lands on the scale?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, I think that just, I mean, everyone who in the past
may have said my dad wasn't a good coach, obviously the results spoke for
themselves between myself and Venus.
And, you know, multiple Grand Slam titles that we have won is just --I
wouldn't have won a single title without him and without his backing.
I think that theory went out the door years and years ago, maybe over a
decade ago.
But, yeah, he's just great.  He's a great coach.  Even to this day.  He wrote
me something just the other day, and I just really meditated on it and I
thought about it, and I thought, This is what I need to do, and it really
helped me out during the match.

Q.  His eye for the game?  His knowledge of his daughters?  Is it his
motivation?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, he's just so innovative, and I think one of the
reasons I'm still playing some of the best tennis at 30 is because he built
my game and my sister's game.  He gave us a good foundation.  So to say he
built our foundation --it was solid and it wasn't weak, so we were always
able to grow our game.
So I think that can't really been said about a lot of people in their career.

Q.  What is your appreciation of the Bryan brothers, what they have meant to
the sport, and their pursuit of the Grand Slam this year?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It's been amazing.  I'm a little jealous because Venus and
I haven't quite won a Grand Slam in doubles.
Um, but, I'm so excited, and, boy, am I rooting for them to go all the way.
 I think they're obviously so exciting.  I mean, they really bring the crowd
here.
People come out to the tennis to see, you know, Roger Federer, Nadal, the
Bryan brothers, you know.  They are just as big a card as anyone else.
That's really never been done, and it's really awesome.

Q.  What makes them special on the court in your estimation?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, their energy is just unbelievable.  Their energy is
so great.  I mean, whether they are up or they're down, you can't tell.  It
seems like they're just having the time of the their lives on the court.
For me personally, I love the dynamic that they're brothers.  I can really
relate to that because I play doubles with my sister.  We don't have that
energy, but we definitely have so much fun out there, and I feel just like on
that aspect we have so much to relate to.

Q.  You talked about when you have fun you play better.  How much fun are you
having this week?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I'm having a blast this week.  I have just really been
enjoying my matches.  For me, I have to stay in that moment of fun but
intensity but calm.  If I can try to do those three things, it works out.

Q.  Li Na, she beat you a few years ago.  Can you just talk about the
challenge she presents in the matchup coming up?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  She's a great challenge.  She moves really well.  She does
everything well.  I think the challenge of playing someone like her is how do
you beat a player that does everything so well?
I'm going to have to, in the next couple days, think about that and come up
with an answer to that.

Q.  They've been close sets; she hasn't beaten you.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  So, yeah, she's been playing really close.  Who knows?
 Maybe the next time we play she might want to go from close to a win, so I
have to be ready for that.

Q.  Tonight on the telecast, Chris Evert called you the best player ever.
 She said the numbers aren't there yet because of injuries and time off, but
she speculated that you have started to kind of focus on your place in the
game and the numbers, and she said in the next three years you have time to
pass everybody.  Has that entered your thinking at this stage?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah.  I mean, for me, I never really want to focus on the
numbers.  I started playing tennis not to be the greatest but just because I
had a racquet and a dream.
Now people are saying that I could be, but for me, I'm just not there yet.  I
feel like people like Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf,
they just, right now, are just, to me, the ultimate icons in history and the
historics of women's tennis.
I just am still that girl with the racquet and a ream, and I'm just playing
for that.

Q.  You mentioned that this was a tournament you came in with specific goals
that you set, and I don't know if it was something new for you, but can you
elaborate what those goals were a little bit?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, no.  Sorry (laughter).  Good try, though.

Q.  Rafa is undefeated on hard courts this year and you're undefeated on
clay.  Patrick said this year balance was really important with your clay
game.  I wondered about transitioning from clay to hard courts, what the
challenges have been?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, actually, it's a lot easier, the transition, because
the hard courts have gotten so slow since when I started playing.  They were
a lot faster.
And now it's just so many more balls come back, and it's just almost
basically playing on a fast clay court.  I think the transition is a lot
easier than it used to be.

Q.  You've achieved most everything in your stellar career.  Only two titles
is missing in this beautiful collection, the Aussie and the French mixed
doubles.  Have you considered about the run for this title with the kind of
player like Roger or Rafa?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, if they would play with me.  I would totally play the
mixed doubles in Australia or the French, but I'm not sure if that's going to
happen (smiling).
I obviously think about it.  I still have several years.  I just feel so good
physically and mentally.  I have several years to keep trying.
But I keep playing doubles, and I can't play all three events.  So it's just
like --I don't want to give up the doubles to play the mixed, so it's tough.

Q.  Would you liken Patrick to your father, is that in terms of coaching
style or persona, the way he deals with...
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, definitely coaching style.  I think their personalities
are completely different.
But, yeah, one of the main reasons I was able to work with Patrick is because
he was telling me a lot of the same things that my father told me.
I think that had he told me something opposite or something different or, you
know, he wasn't just doing almost, you know, similar stuff, I would not be
able to work with that because I just wouldn't accept it.

Q.  How do you take care of your body, like the way you eat to be in shape,
to feel good?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Oh, my.  Well, gosh, that's a long answer, but basically,
you know, you are what you eat, right?  (Smiling).

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