NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 27, 2004

Venus Williams

MIAMI, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: First question for Venus Williams, please.

Q. Is it good to get a tougher match like this as your first match?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, she was a very good player. She played definitely at a
different rhythm than most players; she played very flat and very low. Her
serve was a lot slower and lower than what I'm used to. Coupled with the
wind, it was different out there. I felt more than anything I served well.
I'd love to be more consistent and, of course, just play always a lot better.

Q. Looked like she had you running at the beginning. She was the aggressor.

VENUS WILLIAMS: She hit some good shots; she really did. I think that I had
some points where we both were moving so it was nice.

Q. What was that like, that Spadea-Safin match? You probably thought you
might be going on after the second set.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah.

Q. Then it goes to a tiebreak. You're back to waiting. Can you just talk
about, what is that like when you're probably itching to go and get your
match?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I was ready. Then I went, refueled and got ready again.
It was nice, because at this kind of tournament you know it can't go
three-out-of-five. That's the end of it. So there's some comfort in that. But
they had a good match. I actually enjoyed it.

Q. You watched some?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I watched some of it.

Q. How much did you know about your opponent before?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Before, I just had no idea who she was. Apparently, she's
made quite a rise in the last year. I was kind of out most of last year. I
missed -- I see a lot of new faces that I didn't know before. So I'm catching
up, too.

Q. How are you feeling physically?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I feel good. Just taking one day at a time and always make
sure that I'm careful that I say my prayers.

Q. What was the biggest problem, you had some problems with your abdomen or
stomach?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes.

Q. Could you talk about that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: That was the biggest problem, but I'd like to think it's
behind me. When I'm out there, I am not thinking about my stomach injuries or
my pulls or my strains. So that's good. Because earlier in the year, that was
an issue, having to play and also thinking about what I had been through in
the past. But now that's not even on my mind. It's a hurdle to get over, but
it was good.

Q. How did you feel mentally out there today? Did you feel like you were in
it from the beginning?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I always felt confident. I always felt like I was going to
win the match, but I did feel a little bit inconsistent. That's definitely
what I'm going to work on in my next match. But sometimes it happens if you
don't always play a lot of matches.

Q. At times during the match you seemed a little, like, distracted. Was there
anything else going on outside of the match?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I didn't feel distracted.

Q. Because of the weather yesterday, there's a certain situation where every
match on Stadium Court today has a player who's won a Grand Slam, been No. 1.
Does that -- clearly, that's great for the audience, but does that sort of
spill over to you guys, too, when you're just all a part of just this kind of
all-star lineup?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know (laughing). I never thought of it that way, to
be honest. But I'm very happy to be out on court. I love this court and I
love this tournament. I felt support out there today, so that was nice.

Q. You still have an interior design company?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes, I do.

Q. How involved are you in that?

VENUS WILLIAMS: As much as I can. But definitely my main task is the tennis,
so that's where I spend most of my time, is on the tennis court. But...

Q. With the interior design company, do you actually design people's homes?
Do you have clients?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I pretty much leave it to the designers because they're
professional and they're experienced. They know what's happening. Sometimes,
of course, I have ideas, but I definitely like to let them do their best at
what they do.

Q. Have you finished the room for Serena, and, if so, what was her reaction
to it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: The room?

Q. Weren't you doing her room.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I was doing a project for her. It's not done yet, so
we'll talk about it after (smiling).

Q. You've got a few matches under your belt now.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Uh-hmm.

Q. Where do you feel like your game is right now?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I feel good, just keep advancing. Definitely, just stay in
the tournaments and not, you know, acquire another injury. That's the problem
so far, is the injuries. So what I'm trying to do is stay healthy. And as
long as I can stay healthy, I can practice, and as long as I practice, I can
win matches.

Q. You were away for a while. You've had a few matches. Do you feel like
there's still things you're sort of noticing like, "Oh, yeah, I remember what
this looks like," or do you feel like you're in a groove?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I definitely feel I can get better, but I've always felt like
that, even when I was playing my best. So I think as a professional athlete
and as a competitor, that's just the attitude I have all the time. I'm always
trying to get better. I never stop.

Q. How tired are you of people asking if tennis is your No. 1 focus?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's quite strange. I never let on that impression. You go
off and get injured, and people start to think that maybe you aren't
interested. The truth of the matter is I was injured.

Q. Did you have to make any adjustments with Zjeng, the way she was playing
sort of starting out, in order to kind of turn it? What did you have to do?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I had a slow start, I thought. But I think today my serve
really helped me to win the match. I did miss some easy shots, but I think I
just maybe rushed a little bit so I tried to correct that. And she was really
compact and low to the ground. I noticed the longer we got in the rallies,
the lower she kept hitting the ball, and the lower it got the tougher it was
for me to raise it up and hit an effective shot. When I hit a slower ball,
she did her best to try to attack it. It was an interesting game. I enjoyed
it. I was just competing the whole time. I felt confident I would win the
match.

Q. In the second set it seemed like you had put her away early on and then
she fought back. Did you let up or did she just make big shots?

VENUS WILLIAMS: She's definitely a fighter, that's for sure. You could see
that. She's had apparently a really good rise. But I also think I did make
some errors there, especially for a couple of games from 4-1 to 4-3 I made a
few errors. But I think what I wanted to do was try and go for more and
whenever I get up, I do try to go for more and just keep playing better and
raising it up to the next level. But it kind of backfired and I missed a few
more, so I'll try not to do that (laughing).

Q. Not having played that much, or having had a long break, did it make you
hungrier at all? How did it affect your mind frame?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just, you know, I feel like the same person, the same
player. I just think it will only be a matter of time before I get the same
results. That time could be this week also, is how I feel.

Q. Do you try not to look at the ranking? For some people, they'd kill for
17. For you, it seems low.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I didn't even know it was 17. I thought I was outside of the
Top 20. When they said that, I was like, "Yes!" In comparison, I played -- I
have about five tournaments in my record. It's a pretty good ranking for that
number of tournaments. So it's not so bad. Even when I first started out, I
really, really paid attention to the rankings. I was counting points. But
after a while, it was more or less my performance in the tournament and
getting, hopefully, a victory in the tournament, not what the ranking was all
about.

Q. Also, do you like when your family is here, watching you? What's that like?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I can hear them out there when I'm on the court. I can
hear them, "Come on, come on," even if I miss a shot or feel bad about the
mistake or even slightly embarrassed about a silly error, I feel my family
out there rooting me on. So that's nice.

Q. Tommy Haas was saying the hardest part for him in getting back from his
injury is he keeps comparing himself now to that player that he was before he
was injured and it's hard, because he feels like he's not measuring up as
quickly as he'd like. Can you relate to that at all? Have you had some of the
same feelings?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I suppose we have a little bit of a different mind frame. I
feel like the same player, and I just maybe have a disposition, but I feel
like still the best player. So that's just how I think. I think that's how I
was taught to think, right, mom (laughter)? Hey, that's how I am. But I
definitely think the whole thing for me is to be consistent.

Q. Have you been able to give Serena any advice about coming back, since you
got a little bit of a head start on her?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Not really. We always encourage each other, but not anything
in particular, no.

Q. What is your -- what are your plans, as far as tournaments go after this
one?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I'm going to play in Charleston, the Family Circle Cup,
then I'm going to play Fed Cup, then Warsaw and Berlin and the French Open.

Q. Do you feel you could win the whole thing, this whole thing? Or do you
just take it one match at a time, see how it goes? Do you aim to try to win
the whole thing? Can you do that?

VENUS WILLIAMS: That's a good question because I'm really interested in
winning the whole thing, and that's always where I set my goal. I really
would just like to win, to sum it up. But if I can, I will have to definitely
improve on my game today.

Q. You won here before. Was that very memorable? Do you have good memories?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I love winning. Yes, it was very memorable. It's been a
few years now since I've won this event. But Serena's won the last couple
years so someone can mix her name up with mine and never know the difference
because I get called Serena all the time; it's fine with me (smiling).