U.S. OPEN

August 30, 2013

Serena Williams

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

S. WILLIAMS/Y. Shvedova
6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  What time did you get here?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I hit at 6:15.

Q.  From that point to when you got on the court, what did you do?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I'm good at waiting.  I just did my usual.  I did my
warmup, went to the locker room, came up here.  I just kind of sat.  I
watched TV on my iPad.

Q.  What did you watch?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I was watching I Love Lucy.  For whatever reason, I've been
watching that show lately.
Then that's it, just warmed up and was ready.

Q.  Sloane next.  A highly anticipated match.  What are your thoughts on that?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I think it will be a good match.  I think she's playing
really well.  I'll have a really tough match.
I definitely don't feel like I'm going in there as a favorite because she's
playing great, even though I'm playing good, too.  She really has nothing to
lose and she excels in situations like that.  So I think she'll be really
good.
I'll just have to see how it goes.

Q.  Will you be at any disadvantage because you played so much later than she
did?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  You have to prepare for this.  I have to be ready for
whatever.  Hopefully I won't play at 11:00.  You just have to be ready.  It's
not like I play tomorrow.  I have doubles tomorrow, but I'll still have time
today actually.

Q.  Sloane said she considers you a coworker, a Fed Cup teammate.  Do you
agree with that, more or less?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I think, yeah, we're teammates.  I mean, I've always really
liked Sloane.  I have a lot of respect for Sloane.  I think she's a great
girl.
I think she's great for tennis, as well.  So yeah.

Q.  Is it fair to say that Sloane has emerged as one of your rivals at this
point?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I don't know.  I mean, definitely.  Anyone that's playing
tennis and is doing as well as her, you can definitely say that.

Q.  Do you think back at all to Melbourne and that match?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  For sure.  You got to take some of those, think about what
you can do, how you can be better.  I'm sure she takes it as well, how she
did, how she can repeat that.

Q.  You're much healthier than you were.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, my ankle is fine.  But, like I said, she played a
great match there.  She had to take that win.  She did a good job with
staying composed and doing it.

Q.  What do you remember most about that match?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  She's such a fighter.  I felt like she didn't stop and she
kept going, so...  It was a good match.

Q.  What do you think the buildup is going to be like?  American No.1 versus
American No. 2.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It will be good.  I definitely look forward to it.
 Whatever happens, like I said, an American for sure will be in the
quarterfinals, which is really good.  I think American women's tennis is
doing excellent.  I'm kind of excited about that.  It's really, really
exciting.

Q.  Do you get sick of the questions about all of it?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  At 1:30 in the morning, for sure.

Q.  Have you talked to Sloane at all this tournament?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, whenever I see her, we talk.  Arthur Ashe Kids Day,
we were laughing a lot.
For me she's a great girl.  She's good for tennis, as well.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports