Venus Williams defeats Samantha Stosur
6-2, 6-2
First Round

AMY BINDER: Questions for Venus, please.

Q. Yeah, Venus, could you just talk about the match in general and how you
played?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It was a good match to start out with. She definitely hits a
lot of spin, on the serve and off the ground strokes, so I feel like I played
pretty good, and the score line I guess shows that.

Q. Hey, Venus. Yesterday Serena said she considers you the best player on the
tour right now. As far as that goes, how do you feel your game is right now
at this point in the year?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I feel really good actually. Also I feel like I'd like to
improve, and on the clay courts you obviously have to adjust your game a
little bit also, but I feel like I'm definitely playing well in practice,
and it's just important to execute in the match.

Q. Any different for you coming back as someone who's won this event? Do you
feel comfortable on that court?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's really nice. I love having my picture in the
stadium. It's very exciting. And definitely, it's good to have good memories.
It's definitely tough to come back to a tournament where you've never done
well, and I have a couple where I've done that and I guess a few ghosts
haunting me there, but I'm fine here.

Q. The Grand Slam events moving toward equal money and having that now for
men and women, what do you think about that? A long time coming?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's definitely been a long time coming, but I think the
last three or four years has been a really consistent push, and not just
behind the scenes, but also in front of the world. So I think it was just a
matter of time before Grand Slams had to step up and pay equal prize money to
all humans.

Q. Venus, you see your sister is on the draw. Just one more match. Does it
disappoint you when you see a draw happen to work that way?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, she's definitely my sister, but at the same time when I'm
in a tournament, I have to play any player, no matter who they are. So I just
have to play well and get to the third round.

Q. Along an earlier question, the WTA is thinking about cutting back from 26
tournaments to 20 as far as the Tier I's. What are your thoughts on that? Do
you need the extra time? I guess that's the one thing they're trying to get
is extra time for you guys to rest?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think it's a lot of things. I think in general it's just
about building a stronger business model, one that's successful for the players
and for the fans. Whether or not it's about giving players more rest time, I
don't think so, no.

Q. Venus, do you think of yourself as an underdog this week? I mean you're
unseeded. Today you were playing someone who was seeded, but yet obviously
you've won this event before. Do you think of yourself as an underdog at all?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I don't think of myself as an underdog. I just think of
myself as not being as ready as I should be, and that happens when you take
time off Tour. So I've made a few steps in the last few tournaments which I've
played, and I've only played a few tournaments. So I'm moving steadily forward,
which is expected.

Q. Are you maybe a little further along than maybe most people realize?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've never really given thought to what the next person may
realize. It's all about me and how I'm going to make my own career happen. So
I think this is my fourth tournament of the year, which is a good number for
me, and I'm just eager to play. So any tournament, every tournament, I want
to have fun.

AMY BINDER: Anything else? Thank you guys.

END OF INTERVIEW