BNP PARIBAS FED CUP: USA VS THE NETHERLANDS

February 10, 2018

Venus Williams

Asheville, North Carolina

V. WILLIAMS/A. Rus

6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You made your Fed Cup debut in 1999. Today you played your one thousandth
career match. Speak to your longevity, what a milestone like this means to
you.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Honestly, I don't really know about these milestones when
they happen. It's just great to be playing the game that I love.

Not really going for milestones, but then they happen.

Q. Can you speak about the first set, those two breaks of serve in the
middle, how that maybe impacted the flow of the match.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it definitely made the match a lot more competitive.
That's what we're here for, is to compete. The game's not over till it's
over. There were a lot of games I thought, Oh, I have this game, then she
stepped it up. Sometimes I didn't play the best shot, she would play a great
shot. It kept the game close.

Q. After the match you talked about how great the match was in Asheville.
Talk about the atmosphere.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I felt proud. Also you don't want to let this crowd
down, you don't want to let your country down. That definitely adds to the
pressure.

As players, we're not used to playing in a team atmosphere, so it definitely
puts a lot more pressure, not only for of course our team but their team as
well.

Q. Your thoughts on Arantxa's play today. She came in here and talked about
how much she had to step it up to compete with you. Seemed like for many
games throughout the course of today, she was right on you.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think it took a little while for me to understand her
game. She had a good serve. She had some of those first serves in. She was
playing great defense at times, too.

There was one point that I definitely thought I won, and somehow she managed
to win it. Those kind of unexpected moments definitely were well-competed by
her.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about a bit of a slow start last month to the
year, how this match might help you.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I'm excited to have matches. I wasn't necessarily going
to enter more tournaments. I think I'm playing well. I just had some bad
luck. I played players who just were on fire. Never really got a chance to
start. Sometimes that happens. Just the beginning of the year.

Q. You go through this all the time at the start of a Grand Slam. How
difficult is it when you are expected to win, where you know you're the
overwhelming favorite? How do you get up for that? Did it take a little bit
in this match to recognize no matter what they say, you still have to win?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, definitely. Trust me, I know there's no givens. You have
to take. I'm very familiar with that. I realize that. It's old news for me at
this point.

Q. You mentioned the altitude a little bit in your post match comments. Talk
about what you felt. Was there tiredness, shortness of breath?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No, maybe I felt a few of my balls were flying a little bit.
I got maybe a little bit tentative. I think that created some opportunities
in the second set, too.

Finally I just had to let go of that thought, hit it hard and deep. Sometimes
it even looked like they were about to go out, but they landed in, so I was
lucky.

Q. I think you broke her serve five straight times at one point. What was
working for you in your return game? How critical was it in the first set?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Just try to win the point. I mean, it doesn't get too much
more complicated than that. No matter what, how well you're playing, how not
well, just try to win the point.

Q. How important is the first rubber in a tie like this, setting the tone for
the rest of the weekend?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's always great if your team can start out with a
win. It hopefully takes pressure off the player going second. I've always
enjoyed playing first in these ties.

Clearly Coco is amazing, so... Maybe it would have been better for her to go
first. I was thinking the other day. It's great to have two players. I'm
looking forward to getting out there and supporting her.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports