BNP PARIBAS WTA FINALS

October 23, 2014

Serena Williams

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

S. WILLIAMS/E. Bouchard
6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Looked like it felt a lot better than yesterday.  How different did it
feel just one day to the next on court?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Um, yeah, I was really disappointed in my play yesterday.
 I tried, but it didn't work out for me.  I don't really recover well from
losses, but I had a really long talk with Patrick.  He just was, you know,
telling me what I needed to do and how to get over it.
He was like, You're still in the tournament.  You still have another match to
play.  You can't dwell on this.  But just over and over in differing ways,
just talking positive.  I started to believe that maybe I could come play
another match.
I wasn't quite sure that I could.  So he really was able to help me out.

Q.  Your fate in this tournament rests now on the next match.  What will you
be doing?  Will you watch it?  Go to sleep and just forget about it?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, my fate really rests on me.  If I wanted to win and
be a part of the event, I should have won my match yesterday or should have
done better.
So whatever happens, happens at this time.  I did the best that I could do
this week.  I should have thought about that sooner.

Q.  When you were talking to Patrick, was it mostly a mental kind of
discussion about getting everything kind of right upstairs, or were there
tactical or technical or rhythm issues?  What was the thrust of the
conversation?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  A lot of technical things.  He told me that I didn't have
the same attitude that I normally have when I approach a match.  Things that
I did wrong and things that I could have done better.
Then it was also mental.  Like you got to get yourself together.  You know,
it wasn't just one thing.  It was both tactically and mentally.  And then I
think his belief was really key, because I was feeling mighty low.
I was able to feed off this belief.  I know that sounds weird, even though
I've won so many titles, I still at some point feel like, Oh, gosh.  Well,
maybe I might not be able to do this or maybe I might not be able to do that.
 Especially after a loss.  Especially the way I performed yesterday.
So I definitely don't think that I would've been able to survive today if it
wasn't for Patrick.  For sure.

Q.  I'm sure you want to win every point, every game out there, but how aware
are you at this stage how important every game really is to you qualifying
for the next round?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  You know, I'm okay.  Like I said before, it's out of my
hands.  The last thing I'm going to do is stress out about it.
If I don't qualify, you know, I'll be sad, I guess, but wasn't my year.  I'm
not going to fall out and die.
A little least I won my last match, and get ready like I been saying since
Cincinnati, for next year.  I feel like 2015 is going to be a better year for
me.  I believe that and I'm ready for that.

Q.  What are you planning to do tomorrow?  Practice even though you might not
have another match?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I'll practice, of course.  I'm going to work on some
things.  Yeah, I plan on it.
Then I will just relax and, yeah, maybe go see Mariah Carey.

Q.  Moments like these ever make you appreciate how straightforward tennis is
most of the time?  A lot of the league sports teams are dependant on what
other teams do and stuff and you have to keep watching the scoreboard.
 Pretty much you always control your own destiny in tennis.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I'm used to with football.  Just really depends on what
another team does and blah, blah, blah.  I'm always like, Thank God tennis is
elimination.
But, you know, it is-- again, I feel like it is on my shoulders.  I was
serious, but if I would have played better yesterday I wouldn't be hoping for
someone to lose.
And by the way, I don't hope Ana loses or anything.  I hope the best for her.
 Whatever happens, happens.  Like I said, the last thing I'm going to do is
stress out about it.

Q.  I'm wondering why do you think that is, after everything you've
accomplished that you can still get so down on yourself?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I don't know.  That's one thing that Patrick was saying
yesterday.  That I've done this and out of 33 matches I've won all of them,
blah, blah, blah.  You lose one match and you get so down.  This is
impossible.
You have to be able to not think like that.  It was just one match out of the
whole-- in the past few months you've been playing the best tennis on tour.
 It was just one match.
I love to be perfect and I'm a perfectionist, and that's in everything I do
for as long as I can remember.  I just continue to try to do that.  Sometimes
it works for me I think and that's the reason why I've been able to be so
good; sometimes it works against me.

Q.  Can I ask have you received an apology from Mr. Tarpischev?  Has that
weighed on your mind this week?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yes, I have received --  he has reached out to apologize to
both myself and my sister.

Q.  Did you speak to him or was it written?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It was written.  No, I did not speak to him.

Q.  If this is the last we see you this year, because it's possible, what
might your off-season have in store for you?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, let's see.  I don't know.  I haven't thought about
it.  I'm going to be happy to go home.  Haven't been home in a long time.
 I'm going to go back...

Q.  To Florida?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, probably to L.A.  Haven't been to L.A. in forever.
 Probably hang out there a little bit and go visit Nike Town in Oregon.
 That's on the list.
Dance a little bit.  Not eat too much, because I don't want to put on any
weight in the off-season.  Definitely watch that.  Watch Caroline run the
marathon.  That's it, because I'm definitely not running.  (Laughter.)
As a matter of the fact, I don't know if they have buggies where I can follow
her and she could jump on if she gets tired.
Yeah, I don't really-- those are pretty much my plans.

Q.  You've been around long enough to know a lot of different ways the
calendar has worked out.  Right now there is not really an indoor season.  Do
you miss an indoor season on the calendar?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I definitely do.  I think it's different, too.  You
have to get your bearings on the indoor court.
I think some players were able to do it better than I was this year.  I do
miss like the Zurichs and the Filderstadts.  I guess Moscow is still around.
 Yeah, it was a good group tournaments that was just all together in Europe.
Yeah, it was really fun.  That was in the '80s or something.  Long time ago.

Q.  What did you particular like about indoor?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  You know what I hate about indoor is the fact that I never
played a lot.  It's one of my regrets.  Like why didn't I play indoor tennis
when there was more tournaments around?
I think I played Zurich once and Filderstadt once.  I would've been amazing
in those tournaments it was so fast.  It was my surface.
But I was young.  I think I was in school, too.  So, yeah.

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