US OPEN

September 1, 2020

Serena Williams

New York, New York, USA

Press Conference

S. WILLIAMS/K. Ahn

7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You now have 102 wins at the US Open. I'm talking about player's first
wins at the Open. What do you remember way back in 1998, you defeated Nicole
Pratt of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 for your first-ever win at the Open.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I remember going lots of three sets with Nicole Pratt, but I
do not remember that match at all, yeah. I actually would have never said her
of all people that I've played in the first round. No recollection.

Q. Do you kind of remember your first win and what that felt like?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Ironically I remember losing to Spirlea that year. I don't
remember any other match (laughter). That's so Serena, yeah. Sorry.

Q. For you, at this stage in your career when you've done so much, a coach
tells you you still can improve things, do you always readily accept that or
do you think how could you be doing this wrong? What is your openness to
suggestions, stubbornness?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I believe I'm open to suggestions. I don't think that I am
stubborn. I think that's a better question for Patrick because I feel like
there might be times where I'm like, Oh, I don't want to do this, I don't
want to do that. I know there has been some of those times. For the most part
I try to be super open to suggestions.

Q. The men have come up with this tennis players association they're
starting. Djokovic has been spearheading it. You've been involved in WTA
players council stuff. Do you think a reorganization is necessary or is the
WTA structure in terms of the amount of player input they get works?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I would be really interested to learn more about what
everything is about because I feel like I can't really have an opinion unless
I understand more deeply. I'm obviously always Team Djokovic, but at the same
time I've been on the WTA Tour for 30 years and I know a lot of stuff that's
happening there. I would like to -- yeah, I can't really comment on that.

I do feel he has some very strong opinions that are often true. Yeah, I would
just have to wait.

Q. You were publicly supportive of the US Open's efforts to stage this
tournament. What do you consider most important about this event taking place?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think what's most important about this event taking place
is just the spirit. Sport has been gone for so long, particularly tennis. We
missed two Grand Slams. The US Open is the first major tennis event since
Australian Open.

The morale can be really low in the world with everything that's going on.
Sometimes you just want to take your mind off. People have been doing that
for generations through sport.

That's one of the reasons I was so supportive of the US Open. I felt like it
was such a good time to get back out there for athletes and for fans to kind
of just disconnect and be a fan, and for athletes to do what they do best.

Q. You said mid match you had to get your 'Serena focus' back. Talk about
what 'Serena focus' is, how you deal with it, how you got it back.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I was referring just in general, not in mid match. I felt
like I wanted to be focused from the first point to the last. I feel like I
have been focused, but I've been losing matches on literally one point that
could swing a match a different way. I've been playing a ton of tight matches.

I felt like, all right, I just wanted to be Serena focused from the first
point to the last point no matter what happens.

Q. Before you went out there your former doubles partner and friend Andy
Murray scored a wonderful triumph. Talk about him, his grit, strength. What
do you admire in your friend?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Usually when you're waiting for a match, someone is down two
sets, you root for the person that's ahead so you can get on the court and
get off.

I was rooting for Andy the whole time. I really wanted him to win. Gosh, when
he was down in the third set, I was like, All right. I was just rooting for
him so hard.

I saw him give the racquet to his trainer. There's Andy, he plans on playing
five sets here (laughter). I was really happy for him.

I love his grit. I've always loved that, way before we played doubles. I
always said he reminds me a lot of myself. I'm just a big fan.

It was really good because I know what it's like to be down, I know what it's
like to be injured, I know what it's like to be counted out. I felt like it
was a real gutsy win for him and I was really happy.

Q. After all you've achieved in your career, do some of these records still
resonate with you? The fact it was the 102nd match win at the Open, breaking
the tie you had with Chris Evert. Do those sort of things still mean
something to you? You've broken so many records, do they all roll into one
after a while?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, in a weird way I feel like every time I come here I'm
being told I broke another record. I felt like I had something last year.
Maybe it was a tie for Chris Evert.

But it's cool. I don't think I appreciate it enough, which is unfortunate.
But I'm in the middle of a Grand Slam, so it's not the time to be focused for
me on records when I'm thinking about winning a tournament.

Q. What made her such a tough opponent, particularly early in the match?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It was just getting the rhythm in the early part of the
match. First round is always tough for me. I think Kristie, she really
strikes the ball really hard. She mixes up a lot. She plays a lot of the
different shots. You don't really know what to expect.

I really thought her game was really, really, really good to the point where
I had to make sure. I was down a break at one point, so I was really fighting
for everything.

Q. What is easiest and what is hardest about the absence of a big-crowd
atmosphere?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think the easiest is a little less pressure. I think the
hardest is making sure you stay pumped. For me it was clearly easy because
I'm always overly passionate. I love being passionate. It's what I'm best at.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports