BNP PARIBAS WTA FINALS

October 25, 2014

Serena Williams

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

S. WILLIAMS/C. Wozniacki
2-6, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Congratulations.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Thank you.

Q.  Down 1-4 in the tiebreak, what was going through your mind and how did
you turn things around?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, I thought, Gosh, I had a match point and she played
so well in that match point.
Then I thought, Well, I guess I have to go home now.  You know, I told you to
get up early in the tiebreak and now you're down 1-4.  You didn't listen.
So those are kind of some of the thoughts that were going through my mind.
Next thing I know it was 4-All and I thought, Well, just keep fighting and
see what happens.
Excuse me as I get dressed.  Okay.

Q.  A bit of a slow start before you were able to turn the match around.  Was
it just a matter of being flat?  Lack of rhythm the first set?  And then how
did you turn it around in the second?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, I didn't want a repeat of the other day, so my whole
goal was just to not lose 6-Love.
I was like, Why am I starting out so flat?  I had a good warm up and I wanted
to have a really good start, but it just wasn't happening.
I need figure that out actually, because it's inexcusable for it to happen
once, let alone twice.

Q.  Tell us about the racquet smack.  It was quite epic.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It was, right?  I don't know how many times I hit it, but
boy, that racquet will never do my wrong again, I tell you.
It was definitely legendary.  I kind of lost my cool a little bit.  I
thought.  Well at least you know I'm passionate.  I give 200%.  When I play,
doesn't matter how I feel, I'm going to give everything I have for every shot
and every point.
I'm not the kind of girl that goes out there and just plays through the
motions and just doesn't care whether I win or lose.  I give everything.
Then the fans were so like into it.  I just kept letting them down.  I was
like, This racquet here is-- it bit the dust so to say.  I'm not proud of it.
 (Smiling.)

Q.  This is the third time this year you've dropped a first set again
Caroline and come back to win.  After that first set, did you remind yourself
of those occasions?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Honestly, no.  I really thought she was going to win
because she was playing so well.  She was playing me different than she had
in the last four or five times we played this year, so I just had to adjust
to that.
I thought she was playing totally different.  She had a whole new strategy.
 I finally was able to kind of figure it out in the second, and then I just
was able to play a little better.
So I didn't even remember the other matches.

Q.  After the match with Simona you said you were really looking forward to
playing her again.  In case she is the one you're facing in the final, how
excited are you to get that opportunity so fast?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I'm excited.  My goal is to win three games.  That'll be my
first goal.  I'm going to go from there.  Hopefully I can hold serve.  That
would be good.  Most of all, I hope to break once.  So I'm starting out with
low goals.
Then I'm going to go from there.  She played really, really well.  Even she
said she played really well.
I'm just going to do the best that I can do and see what happens.

Q.  You went to the Mariah Carey concert last night with Caroline.  What was
it like to be with her last night and put the friendship aside and go out and
play today?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It was fine.  We've done it so many times this year it's
like becoming like clockwork.  We hang out the night before and we have a
match the next day.
It's just happening.  We've played more times this year than we ever have in
our careers.  Ever.  So was it fine.  We both love Mariah Carey and we
absolutely needed to go to the concert.  Yeah.

Q.  When she served the match point and then held for 6-All, there was an
epic point that she won.  Is that one of the points you're going to remember
for quite a while?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  When I had match point and she saved it on the volley?

Q.  Yeah.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I thought-- I was really okay until she -- I had
match point.  I hate to lose a match when I have match point.  It's hard to
sleep.  It's hard to function.
I thought, Oh, my God.  She couldn't play any better.  I think it was one of
the few match points that I actually-- I don't know what I could have done
better.
Maybe off the return I could have started out stronger, but I thought, Okay,
that's not that disappointing.  I tried my hardest and she just played an
incredible point.
For me, I think I haven't watched many of the other ladies play, but for sure
it was probably one of the points of the tournament seeing as it was match
point and she was so fearless on it.

Q.  You mentioned she was doing something different on court against you.
 Can you tell us what surprised you?  As you said, you started is it solve
it.  How did you solve it?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, it didn't surprise me a lot.  I'm not going to get
into a lot details because I notice this isn't first time it happened.  It is
against this particular player.
But it clicked today.  I thought, Ha!  I got you now.  Not in particular to
her, but in particular what to do against Serena.
So I'm on it.  (Smiling.)

Q.  She pretty much has gotten more aggressive overall though, don't you
think?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Oh, absolutely.  She definitely played a lot more
aggressive.  I think I that's something that you have to do or you're not
going to be able to stay in the match.
She was definitely super aggressive and she ass making-- she was very-- she
made very few errors.  I felt like she didn't make hardly any errors.

Q.  This is the first time WTA Finals held in Singapore.  Stacey gave it a 10
out of 10 this morning.  Just like to get your thoughts on how we're doing.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  That's some high scoring.  If I were a judge and you have
to hold up like a sign, I guess Stacey gives to a 10.
I don't know.  It's hard to say.  It's been an amazing experience.  I've had
a wonderful time here.  I think everyone has been incredibly hospitable.  The
hotels that are here are all so nice.  So many wonderful hotels and sights
here.
Above all, my first album I ever got in my life was Mariah Carey, so the fact
that they provided tickets to the Mariah Carey, I give it an 11.

Q.  You were down 1-4 in the tiebreak.  Did you feel a little lucky then?
 You hit the net twice.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I just felt drained at that point.  I felt like I had a
match point.  Maybe one.  And I told myself to get up in the tiebreak, and
next thing I know I was down and I lost four points in a row.
I was just like, Okay, you tried.  Then I hit the net cord and I was almost
upset on it.  I was like, Why couldn't you have done that on match point kind
of thing.
I just didn't think about it.  Just next point.  Wasn't really thinking about
much at that point.

Q.  Must be a terrific feeling winning a match like that, but could you help
feeling a little sorry for Caroline?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, it was the first match I didn't feel greatsince
obviously -- if you take Venus out of the equation -- where I wasn't happy
after I won.  I didn't give a massive fist pump.
I almost felt -- I really warmed to cry because Caro is so nice we get along
and we do so much together.  Yeah, it was really kind of difficult.
But, you know what I really love about our relationship is we really play
each other on the court incredibly hard.  So, so, so, so, so hard.  And then
we just try to put it aside out of the court.
But I didn't feel great about it, to be honest.  She's like my little baby
sister from a different mother and father and different country.  (Smiling.)

Q.  You were down 4-5 and Wozniacki was serving for the match in the third
set.  Do you have a process when staging comebacks?  Did you hit the reset
button before you start hitting ball?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I do.  I think I always hit a reset button.  And for me
it's never over.  I've had that attitude since I was young.  And that's great
on the tennis court, but in life that's sometimes isn't good.  You got to let
go of some things.  I am working on that as we speak.
But on the tennis court it's definitely good to hold on to playing every
point and doing everything.  So I felt like, Okay, reset.  Let's just try to
make every shot and do every point.  I thought of things that, you know,
everyone has told me in the past, from Patrick to my dad.  What would they
say now?
Then I just even smiled.  I was like, Okay, you could go home tomorrow, but
didn't really-- I was just trying to see the positives, even though it was
the last thing I wanted to do.
It was just really, really trying to see everything positive, and that helped
me relax.

Q.  Yesterday was a pretty fun day for most of us watching how the scenarios
were unplaying.  We know Sasha was at the match yesterday.  He was Tweeting.
 Were ignoring everything that was going on or were you paying attention?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, it was crazy.  I don't want to do that no more.  I'm
going to have to-- if I qualify next yeah, I'm winning my matches.  I don't
like my fate to be in someone else's hands.
Halep was up 5-1 and I thought, Well, maybe I'll qualify.  Then she lost and
I called my assistant and said, We might need to book a flight.
And then next thing I know she was up in the second and then it was even.  I
thought, This is too much.  Next year I'm going to play my matches, win the
three, and go from there.  That's what Caroline did.  No stress for her.
It's too stressful for me.  That was like a drama on Netflix, and I don't
like or watch dramas.

Q.  You got to finish the year as No. 1, 12 years after the first time you
did that, which is a record actually.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Another record.  (Laughter.)

Q.  Of all the records you have, how do you think that ranks and what does
that mean to you?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, it's pretty awesome, I guess.  I never, never thought
I would be playing this long.  Or if I were playing this long, I figured I
would be playing doubles.  Definitely not be No. 1 in the world.
Gosh, I work so hard on the my craft and at what I do.  There is not a day
that goes by that I don't think about being the best.  It's stressful.  It's
like the only time I didn't was when I had some problems and I was in the
hospital.  That was a relief almost.  I'm not thinking about tennis.  You
know, being about the best.
So I think it just really boils down to your personality.  My personality is
I'm a fighter, as you can see, and I never give up.  I work very, very, very
hard for everything.  Whether it's my serve or return, I work hard for
everything.  It's good to see some of the results.
I think it's also a good example for a lot other people that are playing
tennis or going to school that want to do something.  You have to work hard
at it.  Nothing is coming for free.  At least not for me.
From what I understand from other people, doesn't come from free either.

Q.  Why don't you like dramas?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I can't deal with the pressure.  Oh, my God.  It's
too much.  I don't do pressure well.  Only on the court.  You would be
surprised.
I do not do pressure well.  What I do is fast forward to the end and I watch
-- like I was watching this movie with Liam Neeson and he was caught in the
snow.  Wolf or something.  You know that movie?  It was awful.  And he was in
a plane crash.
I watched the first 20 minutes and my heart rate got going and I said, Okay.
 So I fast forwarded a little bit and still drama.  So a little bit more,
still drama.
So I went to the end and he ended up dying.  I thought, What?  Imagine if I
had watched the whole movie.  I would've really been disappointed.  I cry
easy.
I watch comedies and I watch, you know -- yeah, comedies.  Action moves.  I
love action moves.  The Avengers, comics, but I cannot do drama.
It's just, no.

Q.  Four matches into in tournament any drama with your knee?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, every day.  But as Caroline and I say, we're both
heavy on Tylenol.  So taking a lot of Advil and getting through the matches.

Q.  Two questions:  One, where would you say your serve is at the moment
after today's match?  And secondly, do you get nervous?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I get nervous before every single match.
My serve is okay.  It was good today, you know, in the second and third set.
 At least it showed up today.
Hopefully show up tomorrow.  So we'll see.  It wasn't bad today.  I think I
had a few aces.

Q.  Do you get nervous in the match?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I do.  Sometimes when you have a match point your heart
rate goes up.  It's like you're watching that drama.  So, you know, you have
to take a deep breath and then really calm yourself down.
I'm always able to calm down.  That doesn't happen all the time.  Usually I
get nervous before the match.
But sometimes you just-- like today, my first match point my heart rate was
beating and I calmed down and I thought I played a really good match point.
She just played an even better point.

Q.  If you end up playing Radwanska in the final, how do you judge her as an
opponent?  What are the keys to playing against her?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, it would be like playing-- she's very tricky.  She
plays low.  I really like watching her play.  She's so fun to watch.  I watch
her play often.  Yeah, soat least I know her game really well, because I
think she's just so fun to watch and exciting for women's tennis.

Q.  They're talking about making a movie out of Li Na's life already.  If
they were going to make one out of your life, what genre would it be at least?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Right now, sorry to say, it would a big drama.  It would
be-- it would have a lot of comedy in it as well because I'm not really a
serious person off the court, but there is a lot of drama going on in there.
 So, yeah.

Q.  Could be a musical though.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Absolutely.  That's a great idea.  On Broadway, too.  It
should just be on Broadway.  I think that's a better idea.  Not take it too
serious.

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