SONY OPEN TENNIS

March 25, 2013

Serena Williams

MIAMI, FLORIDA

S. WILLIAMS/D. Cibulkova
2-6, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Did you forget to wake up for a set and a few games?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  (Smiling.)  No, I don't know.  Mentally I was just fried
and I was just thinking about everything but tennis.
Then I just had to pull myself back together.

Q.  So when you are, what kind of things are you thinking about?  Where to go
to dinner?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, I was just thinking about --I don't know.  I was too
stressed out and not really calm out there for really no reason.
Then I couldn't pull myself back together.  You know, there is a time for
everything, and it definitely wasn't the time for that.

Q.  Was it the stress of playing here in front of the expectation of wanting
to do well here or what?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, no.  I always put, you know, a lot of stress on myself,
but it wasn't necessarily any of that.
But I just-- you know, for the most part, I also was playing a really good
opponent who plays really well.  She's a good fighter and she's a great
player.  So, yeah, put it all together.

Q.  We're used to hearing you shout encouragement at yourself, and you didn't
do that for, I don't know, about over an hour.  Is that something you can't
force?  You can't force the energy and the enthusiasm?  Because once you
started doing it you started playing better.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, it can't be forced.  You know, it just kind of has to
come.
You can try to force it, but it's not the same.

Q.  So you have to start playing well before you start showing emotion?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Exactly.  Exactly.  You have to give yourself some hope.
 You can't be yelling, Come on after 40 unforced errors and you miss another
shot.  That's not going to necessarily work.

Q.  I don't know if you heard, but just about right before you turned it
around somebody from the crowd yelled, Boring, and automatically that's when
things turned.  Did you hear that person?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, I didn't hear it at all.

Q.  Did your coming into the net and becoming a little bit more aggressive
help you get you moving a little bit?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I definitely, definitely agree.  I feel like coming
to the net helped me to just play a little better and play more aggressive
and just play my game.
I was not feeling my game today, you know, but for me it's getting through
those matches when you don't feel great and then you're still able to come
through them and survive and play for another round.

Q.  The truth is in many situations you actually trailed, and then it's like
the person is up like she was today and then it's like, Good-bye.  Somebody
says, How do you keep doing that, Serena?  What would you tell them?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I think every time is different.  This particular time I
just thought to myself, Well, I've been down worse.  It's nothing new.  Just
keep fighting.  I never give up.
Doesn't matter whether it's in life or on the tennis court, I keep fighting.
 That's what I kept doing today.

Q.  Did you feel there were too many unforced errors?  Your footwork seemed a
little off.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I just felt slow and sluggish.  Then I started
hitting errors and I was getting frustrated.  Then I tried not to be
frustrated.
I was just proud of myself because I didn't throw any racquets down.
So it worked out for the best.

Q.  How aware are you of some of the external things in a situation like
that, like the music that plays on the PA during the changeovers?  Does that
ever help, or do you even notice it?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, when I'm down like that I don't notice it so much.
 But when I'm up I notice it more and I try to stay more focused.  But when
I'm down, I don't --I kind of just talk to myself a lot.
I look crazy because I'm constantly having an argument with myself.  We're
going back and forth and trying to figure things out.

Q.  So there are two Serenas sometimes?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah.  I'm talking to myself inside and she's talking back
and giving me lip.  I give her a little attitude, and then I tell her she
sucks and she tells me to shut up.  We get into it a little bit.  (Laughter.)
Then we get along.

Q.  How did you get to the match today?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Oh, I didn't have to ride a bike today, so we're good.

Q.  Maybe if you had ridden a bicycle your legs would have moved faster on
court.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, maybe I should start riding a bike more often.  Good
point.

Q.  What made you pick that model car?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Um, last year or the year before I was turning 30 and I
panicked and I thought I needed to get a really old car.  (Laughter.)
Q.So you bought a Rolls?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, that was like couple years ago, I think.  So it was
my mid-life crisis.

Q.  If you're getting old and having a mid-life crisis at 30, what should the
rest of us...
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I really panicked.

Q.  How about the rest of us?  What should we be doing?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I don't know, but that was, like, my reaction.  It was
really hard for me to turn 30.  I really struggled, and I was just like, Oh,
my gosh.  I don't know, like that kind of came out of it.

Q.  Have you come to terms with being over 30 now?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yes, I have.  But getting there was really hard.

Q.  What are your thoughts about your quarterfinal matchup?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Oh, I'm going to have to play a tremendous amount better
tomorrow than I did --I have to play better tomorrow than I did today.  She's
doing great coming off an injury, but she's playing great.  You know, I think
she's been such a solid player.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports