November 18, 1999


Venus Williams

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK CITY

p>Q. Venus, you seemed very happy after the match?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I was just -- my goal was to play better than yesterday. As
long as that happened, that was okay; I didn't lose serves. I didn't take any
opportunities from myself by losing a serve. Naturally, if I didn't break
serve, okay. Theoretically, you're not supposed to break serve. Everyone is
supposed to hold because the server has the advantage. So, I only had one
break, but that's okay.

Q. Are you thinking about track and field as your next sport?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I didn't feel like going around (laughs).

Q. Do you think that gave you a psychological advantage, that you're not
tired at all?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Not that I'm aware of, I don't think so. I just played a
little better at the tiebreak, and it seemed like she broke down a little bit
under the pressure. She just missed some shots. You can't do that in a
tiebreaker because it doesn't go to deuce.

Q. Have you practiced that jump before?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I haven't jumped the net since I was so little.

Q. That was just a spontaneous thought there?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. See, I was going around. It seemed like such a long
ways. She was going to beat me around the net; so, I was going to jump it.

Q. Have you ever done it before?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes, but at the end of the match, to shake the person's hand,
just jump the net.

Q. You said you were going to reward yourself with shopping, where are you
going tomorrow, to get more rings?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no. I'm not allowed to buy jewelry until next March.

Q. Are you still on a furniture kick?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I like interior design in general; so usually a nice piece is
good for me.

Q. With Serena gone, do you feel like your homework is done? Do you feel like
the major obstacles are out of the way for you?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Homework is not done. I wish.

Q. (Inaudible)?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I suppose so, because I'm not all stressed out because
I have so much homework. It's not done, but it's not like I'm behind, to
catch up on the two weeks that I missed. It's like a bad feeling when you
have in the back of your mind that you have to do something and you actually
don't have the time to do it; that's when it's not easy. But I'm feeling good
now. I can concentrate on my tennis.

Q. Do you enjoy the sibling rivalry?

VENUS WILLIAMS: We don't have a rivalry.

Q. There's no rivalry?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No.

Q. Are you playing better because you played last week?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I guess so.

Q. In what way?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just played regular tennis last week, not anything
extraordinary. But I'm doing my best to improve every match. This is the last
match of the season -- or the last tournament, and I want to work on things
that I'm working on in practice, just to have momentum for next year so I can
come off the year with a good feeling, and just feel like I'm going to start
off the next year with the same -- the same things.

Q. Does the title mean a lot to you?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Any title means a lot to me. Because, really, when you're in
a tournament, it doesn't matter which one, you really don't want to lose. At
least, I don't.

Q. Is this title more important?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I can't say it is because I just -- any tournament, I like
winning a tournament. I like my name -- people saying "Venus wins." I like
seeing the ranking go up. I like all those things. So I can't say any title
is more important, because I like to win them all.

Q. Instead of rivalry, what about comparisons, is there any comparison?

VENUS WILLIAMS: We're different players. And a lot of it has to do with body
structures. I'm so tall and she's more compact.

Q. What part of your game do you think you need to improve to take Lindsay
and Martina next year?

VENUS WILLIAMS: My Grand Slam tennis, basically. I haven't been doing too
well in them, and that's really where you can move ahead.

Q. So you think it's more mental than a part of your game that you need to
work on?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Sure, definitely. Just got to -- when it comes down to doing
it, taking the next step, I'm going to have to take that step. I can't be
moving backwards.

Q. Do you feel like your serve was really on today?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've been working on my serve, yeah. My serve goes up and
down a lot.

Q. It seemed to really take her off of her game?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. She wasn't returning so well today. I can't exactly
pinpoint why. Usually, she returns well. When I played her in Munich -- maybe
it's the court, too, because it's faster and lower. The ball just goes a
little lower, I guess because there isn't as much cushion under it; so the
court is much harder. So I think that had a lot to do with it. I'm not
returning my serve; so, I don't know.

Q. You said something last night that I didn't understand. You said that you
were able to stay in class longer because your mom and Serena were on their
way home?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, because it's one of my most important classes --.

Q. Why were you able to stay longer?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Because I was going to have to play doubles that night; so I
took a later flight.

Q. Do you feel responsibility for playing tennis (inaudible) consider that at
such a young age?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, because when I'm out there playing, I play for me,
because I want to play tennis. I want the title for me, or whatever is there,
whatever I'm playing for. In general, I think everyone plays for themselves.
And naturally there's other motives, also, or other things that can rub off
on you. But in the end, even Arthur Ashe, I think they played themselves
because I think they wanted to be there. I don't think they made a decision
to tennis because they wanted to do it for black people. They played it
because they wanted to play for themselves.

Q. Does this experience remind you of when you come to the US Open? Do you
like coming to New York?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It just seems like I'm always in New York. I don't know. It
just seems like that, because the US Open passes so slow. I think it's all
the traffic that just gets to you.

Q. So has this been more enjoyable or less, or how does it compare being in
the City for this tournament, as opposed to the US Open?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think it's a more enjoyable because I get here late. I got
here late Tuesday night. So I'll leave Sunday night. I'm assuming that I'll
be in the final; that's all I can think. (Laughs). But my ticket is arranged
for Sunday night; so I'll be quick. It's different. It's cold. But it gives
me reason to buy a jacket.

Q. (Inaudible)?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just felt that I was an extremely tall player and extremely
powerful. I felt that after that match, at least if I lost, I should have
just been striking the ball; so after that, I changed, and things haven't
been the same since then.

Q. You've been playing harder since then?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes, I've just actually been going for it a little more,
especially on the serve. And I felt that I deserved to win sometimes, too. I
felt that sometimes my mom should be happy, too.

Q. Do you think next time you play, your mom is going to be happy instead of
Martina's mom?

VENUS WILLIAMS: We've played twice since that time. My mom's been happy, I
think. I have a good opportunity against her. It looked like she's playing
better. She was playing nicely in Philadelphia. I didn't see any of her
matches, a little bit when I was passing by. At least when I go out there,
I'm going to play well. I'm going to go for it.

Q. What did you think of the enthusiasm of the crowd?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think once you play well, when you're playing well, when
it's a good match, they are really into it. But when it's going quick, they
are more quiet. So they are quiet until it gets close; that's how the crowd
is. They want it to be close.

Q. What did you say to the man that you handed the autographed ball to?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Thanks. I don't remember. Probably just talking about
nothing, small talk.

Q. Are you really on top of your game? You seem very confident?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I'm not on top of my game. Not in any way, no.

Q. (Inaudible)?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yes, because she's never had a win against me, and it's not
fun losing to the same person all the time. So she really wanted to play
better against me, or at least to win or win a set, something, so bringing
out her best game.

Q. We understand you're going to be on the Hollywood Squares with Serena.
Now, did you get your own square or did you have to share one?

VENUS WILLIAMS: We shared a square.

Q. Was it fun?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm thinking we probably did a bad job. We're not comedians.

Q. What did they ask you?

VENUS WILLIAMS: They ask you all the questions that you will not know the
answer to. Just -- I don't understand it. It seems like there should be a
subject before they do the game with each -- Tic-Tac-Toe with each one. It
should be a subject. But they just ask questions at random, and if you don't
get the answers before you go out there, you just -- most of them you aren't
going to know. For instance, I was born in 1980, and they asked me: Which
movie did Molly Ringwald star in with a lot of teenagers? And I don't know
any things like that. And a lot of things that -- who was the fourth
President of the United States? I don't know. And even -- what sport did
teenagers participate in -- what's the physical activities people in Texas
participate in? I don't know. What? I don't know. See, it's questions like
that, how can you know the answer? It makes you look bad. It's not fair. They
should ask questions that are reasonable. But other than that, it was okay. I
felt highly uneducated?

Q. What square did you get?

VENUS WILLIAMS: We had six different squares, or five.

Q. When is it going to air; do you know?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I probably won't get a chance to see it,
anyway. I'm not sure if we have cable.

Q. You're not sure if you have cable?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't think so.

Q. You don't watch much TV then, I take it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: (Shakes head.)