A Post-Match Interview With:
VENUS WILLIAMS
Venus Williams defeats Chanelle Scheepers
7-5, 7-5
Second Round

DANNY KENDALL: We'll take the first question for Venus, please.

Q. Rosie Casals won the first tournament here, and I was wondering what you
think the legacy of the Original Nine is in women's tennis today, what the
lineage is.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, the Original Nine, they started it all, and they
represented so much, not only for tennis, but women's sports in general for
over 40 years, so it means so much to be continuing that legacy.

Q. You made a great comeback in that first set down 40-0 in the 11th game,
and you just hit it with your serve and big forehand. That really brought you
back or not?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Was that the second set or the first?

Q. First set. It was 5-5 and you were down 0-40.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, my God. That's just crazy. (Laughs). I don't know. I
think sometimes you just get so focused, and she was playing so well, but the
good thing is that when I get behind, I give even more effort and get even
more focused, and I've been playing well from behind lately, which is
something you really have to be able to do to win big matches, because you're
not always going to be ahead.

Q. I know yesterday you said you were dealing with a bug. Are you feeling
better? And you also had your injury looked at on the court. So just how are
you feeling?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, the injury was just a minor, it was just a blister. So
I just had it wrapped and kept going.
Yeah, I'm still dealing with the bug, but my goal is just to hang in there
until it hopefully goes away and then I can just continue to play my way into
the tournament and play stronger. But it's definitely a challenge.

Q. How hard is it to win when you're clearly not 100 percent, because you've
done that so well, I guess over the past two years? You've found a way
somehow. When it didn't look like there was a way, you keep getting W's that
might not be expected?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. Thankfully I have experience, so I guess that helps,
but it's just hard to be aggressive with your feet, to really run down those
balls consistently and just to do the right thing.
So I think I've had a lot of up and downs in the matches, a lot of errors and
then, you know, pull it together.
But the good part is that I'm having to fight out of these situations, so
it's making me tough. (Laughs).

Q. Does it get easier to fight your way out?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. Honestly, I thought she played so well. I mean she
didn't really make a lot of errors, and she kept putting herself in that
position to cross over to win those sets. So I have to give her a lot of
credit because she played really well, especially off the ground.

Q. Venus, Serena last night talked about needing to take a break after two
years of nonstop playing tennis. Have you ever felt in your career early in a
new season that you're probably not as mentally fresh, you haven't quite
recovered from the previous scene?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. I mean I felt like that last season, even though I
wasn't on tour that much. I was constantly in physical therapy. So it was
really hard work, hours and hours and hours. So by the time the end of the
year came, I felt like I had, you know ,had been on tour all year, too, even
though I hadn't. (Laughs). I had a very secretive private battle at home.
So yeah, I definitely can see where she is tired and her body is taxed. She
gave an amazing effort yesterday, and she's going to get some well-deserved
time off, from winning. So, you know, she's a special lady.

Q. Venus, another obviously great battle. Competitiveness, the ability to
compete, the fire to compete, can that be taught? Can that be learned or do
you think it's just kind of an innate thing that you have when you're 12
years old and when you first pick up a racquet and 20 years later?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think for me a lot of it I learned early in my career. I
don't think it was as instinctual, but I think you have to have the desire to
want to get the best out of yourself. We're not always
going to be the best at everything, so then you figure out how to fill in
those gaps of what you're not good at.
I learned a lot from Serena in the early 90s, '98 and '99, because she had a
lot of heart, and I felt like I needed to learn more, so she was a great role
model for me.

Q. So how do you learn kind of competitiveness? You know what I mean? Like
how does that become like an innate thing?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Have you seen the "Wizard of Oz," the lion? He didn't have a
heart, but he wanted it. So he got it. He did what it took.
So you have to recognize, hey, I got this issue. Let me fix it. You can't
just ignore it. So I think for me it was a learned thing.

Q. I guess on that note, what advice would you kind of give to the younger
players who are coming up that maybe haven't learned that yet? Is there
advice that you have for people to kind of learn to be as competitive as you
are?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think the main advice is just don't make any excuses. You
know, don't make any excuses for yourself. If you didn't win the match, guess
what, it's you on the court. So figure it out.
So whatever it takes to win, obviously, in a fair way, you gotta do that. So
I think a lot of times people aren't reprehensible for their own actions, and
in sport you want to be the best you have to be.

Q. You mentioned the private battles at home you had trying to get back to
ready. What's tougher, those private battles or the ones very public out on
the main stadium?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, my God. They're all tough. That's the best part. That's
what makes this game so enjoyable, though, is that it's not easy. Not
everyone can do it. Just knowing what you've given to be on top. That is
satisfaction itself, and it crosses over into the rest of your life as well.

Q. Do you think that some of the--you mentioned, I guess, being
reprehensible. Do you think some of the younger, this generation coming up
now has had it easier than you had it or had it too easy on some level?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think this generation--and I am not that old--younger
people--not yet. People younger than me. I think it's kind of the now
generation, everything is instant. So I think we see things changing with the
younger people, just not as much depth, and I don't know, blame it on
technology. Things have changed so fast.

Q. How do you think technology, I guess, affects tennis? I'm just curious
what you think the link is there.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Like I said, everything is instant. Everything is now. Back
in the day you would have to memorize phone numbers and you wrote them down.
Now it's all in your phone and it's connected to a server. So things have
changed so much. I think it makes you use less brain power. There's less
effort that goes into everything.

Q. Venus, you are sounding kind of old talking like that. I see myself doing
that, too. I have a related question. Do you think, because of the things you
were talking about a while ago, how you can actually develop heart if you
don't have it, do you think the coaches of the now generation are doing
enough in helping develop that or do you think that they're a little too
focused on the backhand?
VENUS WILLIAMS: On the backhand?

Q. Or you know, the technical aspect as opposed to the psychological.
VENUS WILLIAMS: It's all of the above. You have to have those solid
techniques so they're not going to break down when it's 4-4.

Q. Absolutely. But I just wondered if you thought they were getting enough--
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think so, but you know, like I said, it's different. Young
people are different, and I'm not saying they aren't great. I'm just saying,
in general, not just in tennis, but just in general. It's just a different
generation.

Q. Daniela said yesterday that she thought the female players made things a
little more complicated than the men do in terms of thinking? Can you comment
on that?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think we play a little bit different. I think the guys play
the percentages a little more, in terms of just cross-court, cross-court. But
when I play my opponents, at any time the ball could go down the line and you
just have to be ready for that. Every player plays a little bit different.
But I think in some ways it makes women's tennis more exciting because it's
not a constantly cross-court rally, balls moving around, and so I do like
that about women's tennis.

DANNY KENDALL: Okay. Thank you guys very much.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Thank you guys.

End of Interview