WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 21, 2020

Serena Williams

New York, New York, USA

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What's the biggest difference having this year's Western & Southern Open
New York? Is there anything you miss about Cincinnati?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, well, the biggest difference is that it's in New York,
and I miss the amusement park in Cincinnati. My daughter loves going there. I
like going there, too. We have a really good time.

Q. Obviously there is a lot of changes on-site as to how tournaments are
being held at the moment, but you, personally, what do you think has been the
toughest thing you think you need to adjust to? Does it require any specific
mental preparation?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know if there has been anything too hard to adjust
to. I think for me I have been really just super careful, and, like, if
anything, I'm just not taking any risks.

I think the biggest adjustment is just the extra testing, but I'm all for the
extra testing, actually.

Q. How is Olympia adjusting to this new normal? I think kids do a really good
job of it, but how has she been doing in the new bubble?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's been different, because she has been -- today was hard.
She wanted to come to practice with me, but it's around her nap time so she
couldn't come.

She's younger than, like -- you know, if she was six or seven, it may have
been a little bit different, but she's so young. She just started school for,
like, three weeks or maybe two months maybe. So it wasn't that huge of a
difference. So she's been adjusting really well.

Q. I'm curious for you what difference it makes having your own house there
and your decision to do that and not be in the hotel situation.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I didn't want to be in the hotel because I have lung issues,
so I felt like it was actually a big risk for me personally.

At my house, I can control more. There is no housekeeping, there is none of
that type of stuff. And so, I mean, as much as I want to be here, it's great,
but I have genuine health issues that I just really needed to put my mind at
rest to even be able to perform in New York.

Q. Curious, USTA's rules about needing 24-hour security for having your own
house, wondering what you think of that stipulation and how you arranged that.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, so, you know, they have to guide and make sure people
aren't leaving and going to nightclubs, I guess, and restaurants (smiling).

Unfortunately I think it's good because, you know, unfortunately sometimes
people might gets antsy and might want to go places. I think it's just -- I
think it's good because of my health issues, so I'm all for, like, the extra
protocols and the extra safety.

I want to know where people are going. I want to make sure that we are all
keeping ourselves in this giant bubble. Like it's more people now. It's a 128
draw for each, singles, men and women. So it's going to be a lot of people
that enter this bubble.

I think they are doing a really good job of making sure everyone is staying
to their word and staying honest about it. Yeah, I think it's really good.

Q. Wondering, given that we are coming off such a long gap without
tournaments and some people not playing at all, does it feel to you, looking
ahead to the US Open, like this might be as sort of unpredictable of a Grand
Slam as we have seen in a very long time, the circumstances certainly being
unusual in many ways? And I'm also wondering what you think about the
thoughts some people have expressed that there needs to be an asterisk next
to the 2020 Open because not everybody is there, it's a very different
atmosphere, et cetera, et cetera.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I don't know. I don't really think about it too much.
I just feel like I'm here, and there is a lot of people that are here, and
there is a tremendous amount of people that aren't here, as well.

It still has to be tennis that's played, asterisks or not. I think this whole
year deserves an asterisk, because it's such a special year, history we have
never been through in this world, to be honest, not this generation, not this
lifetime. It's just in history, period.

So I think we are living a future history lesson. So I think regardless,
there is always going to be some asterisk by it, because it's never been done
before. And if you win, it was, like, wow, I was able to win in this crazy
circumstance where there was no fans. It was just so sterile and weird. But I
mentally came through. It might be a more mental test than anything.

But it's interesting, and we will see. I don't think it really matters.

Q. I saw you hitting with Stefanos Tsitsipas. I just wondered what you get
out of practicing with people like him and what you make of his game so close
up?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I really love his game a lot. He takes the ball super
early and hits the ball really hard. I get a lot out of that he hits a little
more flat than a lot of men, a lot of guys on the ATP.

So for me it obviously helps me, like, I have to lift my game so much. And
then it's also important for me to lift it, because I don't want him to
think, oh, I never want to hit with her again. She totally sucked. (Smiling.)

I'm, like, Okay, I need to not miss a shot ever.

So it's good. I think it's kind of good for me to kind of just get back into
that mental, like, you don't ever want to miss a shot ever. Yeah, it's really
helpful.

Q. You are the fan favorite at the US Open. How are you going to handle not
having that fan support at Ashe Stadium? And second question, just not being
able to go out and about in Manhattan, you love the city, what's that going
to be like?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I hope I'm a fan favorite. I love playing here. I'm vintage,
so, it's like I don't have that many years left at some point.

It would be nice to try to keep winning. I don't know. I don't mind not
having the fans. I would love if the fans were here, because it's so special
to play with the fans and they really pull me up when I'm down, but at the
same time, we need to be safe right now, so let's not have anyone -- when we
are all feeling better, we can all come back and we can all have fun.

And I'm okay to not go out. I don't really go out much anyway. Yeah, I
literally stay home all the time, because it's kind of hard for me to go out.

So this is not really new. I mean, I might go to a restaurant every now and
then, but especially during the US Open, it's a hardship to go out because
it's, like, everyone's eyes are ready for New York and they are ready to see
tennis players, so it's not the best situation for me, you know, if I'm
trying to stay focused and stay in a zone, so that part hasn't been a huge
adjustment for me.

Q. Great to have you back in New York. Curious, given the health issues that
you have discussed, especially the lung problems that you have overcome, how
much concern or trepidation did you have coming into a situation like this,
especially now?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I have had a little trepidation, but I spoke a lot to
Stacey Allaster, and we have been having a lot of conversations just on the
phone.

For me, it's been a different experience, and, you know, I'm really a little
intense. You might see me walking around with my HAZMAT glasses and
everything, and mask, obviously.

But for me, like, this is a little bit deeper than just playing tennis. It's,
like, okay, I have health issues and I don't necessarily want to get sick,
and if I do, I want the good version.

So I have been doing extra vitamins. So if something happens, at least I will
have the good strain, I guess, of the virus.

It's really important for me to take so many precautions. I'm probably taking
more than most people, but not more than Venus because she's, like, in the
same boat as me (smiling).

We, together, I am just really, really, really aware of everything that we
do. Yeah, it's just eye-opening, but it's also good to kind of get out and
still be able to compete and still have fun and just say, you know, I was
able to compete in this slam that was so insane, looking back on it.

Q. Was there any point you considered not coming to play these tournaments?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, there was definitely a point where, in the beginning,
I was, like, There is no way these tournaments can even happen.

But like I said, I had a lot of great talks with several people at the USTA,
and the protocols that they have are so intense, it definitely helps me to
feel safe. I see that every day they are following through on those protocols.

Obviously it goes bigger than the USTA. The government has to be involved and
the CDC at some level, so that also makes me feel a lot better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports