MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAU

March 26, 2015

Venus Williams

MIAMI, FLORIDA

V. WILLIAMS/U. Radwanska
6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Can you just talk about how you're feeling?  You're having this
resurgence at this point in your career.  Are you just going out there
playing with a whole lot of confidence and joy right now?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah.  I think with every tournament I'm playing with more
confidence.  I have had an opportunity to play a lot of matches this year, so
that always helps.
I feel pretty comfortable in the court, so I'm not taking anything for
granted.

Q.  Serena said the other day playing down here, does it just feel so much
like home for you, being so close to home?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Oh, yeah, definitely.  Been down here little over forever.
 Maybe since '91ish, something like that.  So I love it.  I love playing down
here.  Maybe too many family and friends coming.  (Smiling.)

Q.  I know over the years you want nothing but the best for Serena, but at
one point, how tough was it mentally to adjust from like being the best in
the world and better than Serena to now taking a little bit of a -- she's
kind of on top and you're trying to get there where she's at.
VENUS WILLIAMS:  I'm not trying to get to where anyone is at, including
Serena.  I'm trying to be my personal best, so...
That's how I have played my whole career.  We have definitely motivated each
other.  When I'm on the tour, I'm focused on my results.  I'm focused on how
I'm going to get better.  Everybody's set of circumstances is different.
If you get out there comparing yourself to anyone, that doesn't work.  So the
way I have approached my career is completely different than the scenario
than you have alluded to.

Q.  Were there any highlights of today's game, any moments you were
especially proud of?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Well, I was really happy to win; that was a great moment.
 Those were really challenging conditions.  The wind literally blew so many
balls in that were going out.
It was a little challenging.  To get 3-All in the first set, it was a game
that I felt like I had won, so I was, Okay, it is it going to be that kind of
day?
So I was excited that it wasn't that kind of day.  It was just one game that
kind of just seemed like a fluke, and I was able to get through it.

Q.  When something like that happens and you can't predict, how do you
physically and mentally adjust to that, the weather conditions?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Well, that's tennis.  That's your job.  You cannot predict
how the points are going to go.  In life, you can't predict.  You have to go
for the punches.  That's what you prepare for.
As a professional, you're supposed to be able to execute any shot, in theory,
and be able to improvise.  You can't just think it's going to be that way
that it always is.

Q.  What do you say to the people that have kind of written you off and
you've come back in the tournament and you're winning?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Well, I don't expect anyone else to believe in me.  I expect
to believe in myself.  Even that itself is always a challenge for everyone at
some point in their life.
I think if I thought that, Oh, wow, no one would believe in me now then maybe
I'd go down.  I enjoy what I do.  I believe in myself.  I believe I have the
capacity to get through anything that comes to me in my life and to succeed.
So that's really what it's about.  No one is going to pick you up when you're
down.  Your family, friends, the closest people to you will be there.  I'm
really happy to have that in my life and really a lot of fans who have been
really supportive of me.

Q.  So obviously you motivate yourself.  What do you tell yourself like
before you go out into a match?  How do you motivate yourself?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  For me, I approach everything with humor.  I don't take
myself too seriously.
Whether I won or lost or whether my ranking dropped or didn't drop, I always
did it with a laugh.  I went out there and worked hard no matter what.
So with a little hard work and humor I've gotten through it.

Q.  Agnieszka Radwanska was talking today about having a sister who played on
the tour, and how when you have a sister on tour she said it's really a
special feeling because, A, you feel like you always have a part of home
traveling with you and you have someone truly, truly understands you.  Do you
relate to that?  Does having Serena around all these years, do you spend time
together at a tournament or are you on your separate paths?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  You know, I would probably relate to not having a sister on
tour, [sic] because that's all I know.  I know it's a really super special
circumstance.  It doesn't happen a lot.  It doesn't happen often that two
sisters are playing at a high, high level and really, really know what the
other is going through.
So I just don't know any other way.  I'm definitely grateful, because I think
we have motivated each other so much and are so much of a positive in each
other's life.  Who knows how it would have turned out if both of us hadn't
played.

Q.  You have both had so much success, Olympic golds and Grand Slams.  In
their case, Aga has had all the success and Urszula hasn't.  (Indiscernible.)
VENUS WILLIAMS:  No, I think we would have been happy with each other and
encouraged the other person to go on to glory.
Urszula has played good tennis.  She's reached the top 30.  I think in the
last few years she's really dealt with a lot of injuries, but clearly she's
talented.  You can see they love each other and support each other.  For
them, I think sisters are first and tennis is second.

Q.  In a couple of weeks there will be the rival between the USA and Italy in
Fed Cup.  Yesterday Serena said she plans to come.  Is true?  Are you
planning, too?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I'm signed up for the team, as well.  We will see you
in Italy?

Q.  (Indiscernible.)
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah, thank you.  We're excited to be there and represent
our country and go to somewhere new in Italy, so it's nice.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports