MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAU

April 2, 2015

Serena Williams

MIAMI, FLORIDA

S. WILLIAMS/S, Halep
6-2, 4-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Congratulations.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Thanks.

Q.  That was obviously tough, and you had to fight until the end there, all
the Romanian fans that were rooting for Simona and all that.  Talk about how
you got through that last few games.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I just tried to make some shots and I tried to go for
some big shots.  I thought, I'm just going to go for winners.  Even though
I'm missing most of them, I'm still going to go for them.

Q.  A follow-up.  You seemed frustrated through parts of the match.  Was it
just you didn't feel you were playing the way you could have or was she doing
something to frustrate you?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, you know, I just made more errors than I did in my last
match, which I thought was impossible.  I'm just not at my best level right
now and it's a little frustrating.
I'm not serving well.  I am serving at 40%.  Yeah, so it hasn't been my best
of times.  But, yeah, so that's just the only frustrating part.
And I'm a perfectionist, so if I don't get it right I just want to keep
trying.

Q.  Even though you said it's not your best of times right now, how much do
you relish these spots, especially here?  Your record here is absurdly good.
 When you get tested, how much do you still enjoy those moments, if you do?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I enjoy it.  I actually had a fun match out there.  I just
feel like it was on my racquet and I really had opportunities in the second.
 I just didn't take it.
That's is something that I can't do going into the Grand Slams coming up.

Q.  Your thoughts on the final?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Playing Carla.  I think it'll be good for me.  She's
playing a little bit like Simona, so I will be ready for that.  Have to be
ready.  If I want to win, I have to step it up a notch.

Q.  How crazy being a 7-time champion here and you come out and they're
chanting your opponent's name.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It was definitely odd, but I think maybe she had a lot of
fans.  At the end of day it doesn't matter.  You know, it's good for the
sport to have so many people excited about it.

Q.  You're playing Carla, and when you play someone that you've beaten every
time you played them before, how do you get motivated?  Obviously it's a
final, but you've had so much success against her before.  How do you get
super motivated for a final against her?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I've had success, but I've won four times.  It's not
like I've won twenty times.  I think she's playing the best tennis she's
played.  I think she is just a better player.
So I feel like going out there I too have to be a better player and to play
the best that I can.

Q.  Why do you think you're not hitting that level?  Do you understand why,
or is it driving you crazy because you can't figure out why?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  You know, I don't know.  I haven't practiced a lot going
into these last two tournaments.  Just two days I think before playing a
match here, which isn't ideal.  So I'm kind of just improvising, just to be
honest.
Somehow I've improvised my way to the final.  I don't know how, but I did.
 So if you look at it that way I can't be too disappointed, even though I am
really disappointed.  I really feel like I lost.
I think if I can get some more time on the practice court I would be able to
play tennis.

Q.  How do you think Simona's game was compared to the two games in Singapore?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I think her game was great.  She plays so good and it's so
good to see her play so well.  She's so young, so it's just-- I actually love
watching her play.
Yeah, I'm actually a fan of hers.  I like to watch her.

Q.  Why are you a fan?  Her style of play or the way she moves?  What?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I like her attitude.  I like how she gets pumped up.  I
like how she fights.  I like how she plays.  I think it's fun to watch and
different.  It's refreshing type of game, so, yeah.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports