A Post-Match Interview With:
SERENA WILLIAMS
Jana Cepelova defeats Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4
First Round

Q. Can you just talk about how things went out there for you and what
happened there?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Obviously they didn't go great out there. I think she was a
great counter-puncher today, and she hit a lot of balls back, and I really
knew nothing about her game. So she played a really good game against me
today.

Q. What do you think was going wrong for you early specifically?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, nothing was really going right. I was really
struggling with my serve. Didn't really get any big ones in, so I took the
pace off. It wasn't my day. It wasn't meant to be.

Q. Do you think the turnaround from Miami was too quick?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I actually made the turnaround really, really good. I'm
really just dead. I need some weeks off where I don't think about tennis and
kind of regroup. I've had a long couple of years, and I'm really a little
fatigued.

Q. Do you think it's physical fatigue or just emotional toll?
SERENA WILLIAMS: A little bit of both. Definitely a little bit of both. But
again, I think Jana played really well for her today. And obviously I feel
like--I mean the good thing is I know I can play a lot better. So it's always
really positive for me.

Q. Serena, can you talk about the thigh and how much did that impact you
strapping and everything?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It doesn't really impact me so much. I feel like I, again,
all credit to her. She did well today. She just treed today. She played the
best she can probably play. And you know, I made the transition many, many
times before. So there's really no excuse. Just wasn't my day today.
Q
. Serena, you said that the Miami turnaround isn't too bad, but maybe the
residual effect of your last couple of seasons and what you were able to do?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I think so. I'm going to go on a vacation, for sure.
I'm like I definitely--I need some time off, so I'm going to kind of take a
deep breath, and I haven't had time, even in the off season, I went straight
to training and there's just been so much in a couple--several years, so I
just need to take a deep breath and regroup, and I think actually it'll
really help me for the rest of the clay-court season.

Q. Did you feel like something like this might be coming on, that the fatigue
was really building, even at the beginning of this season?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean I was really tired in Miami as well. But you
know, I feel--I'm happy that I have an opportunity to feel that way, you
know. So means I've been doing pretty well.
But like I said, you know, everything happens for a reason. I feel like I can
always look at the positive and see what I can achieve after this.
So I'm excited. I feel like I now have time to just take a breath and the
break that I really needed to take and go from there.

Q. Was there a point tonight where you just said I'm not mentally in it, I'm
not physically in it, just kind of throw your hands up on the night?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I never throw my hands up. I mean obviously I wasn't at
my best, but I kept trying, and again, she kept pushing and she kept doing
the right things to come up with the win.

Q. Serena, we've seen you come back from three sets recently when you've been
down, so are you surprised that when you started to lift your level a little
bit in the second set that she didn't sort of fade away, she kept mixing it
up, she was hitting drop shots and things like that? Did that take you by
surprise at all?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't think I was able to lift my game as much as I would
like. I tried, but I just physically--I just couldn't do any more. I
really--I tried today, but physically I just couldn't give any more.

Q. Serena, you've played a lot of tournaments over the past couple of years,
especially since you've been with Patrick. I think you won 10 titles last
year, played a really full schedule. Do you think that sort of philosophy of
playing as much as possible caught up with you or needs to be rethought for
the rest of the year?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. No, no, no. I just think I've been training really hard
and putting so much effort into every day for a couple of years now, so I
think sometimes taking a break is just can as important as training, and I
haven't been really doing that so much.

Q. Was it especially hard here? I mean you've had such great success in
Charleston.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's definitely tough. I guess I haven't really
thought about it too much. It's only been, what, five minutes.
So but obviously this is one of my favorite places to play. I love being
here. I love coming here. That's why I always do come, even though the
turnaround is so quick from Miami.
But nonetheless, it's definitely another stop on my calendar.

Q. Back-to-back wins at this tournament, world No. 1, how much of a wake-up
call, if any, is tonight? Like you're talking about needing to take a break,
but just that type of wake-up call?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I think it's a wake-up call that I'm doing too much. I'm
training too much, and I need to--I need to take a deep breath. I mean I
think I just need to take a really deep breath and then regroup, and I have
not been doing that.

THE MODERATOR: Very good. Thank you.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Thank you.

End of Interview