U.S. OPEN

September 4, 2007

Serena Williams

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you explain what went wrong out there tonight?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I can't. I'm sorry. Any more questions?

Q. Do you think fitness was an issue in this match?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm very fit. I can run for hours.

Q. So what do you think was the difference tonight?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I just said I can't explain that right now. I just don't
know, so I can't help you there.
You guys I think watched it. Maybe you can analyze it better. I haven't been
able to watch it yet.

Q. Can you describe your emotions after the match? Are you devastated by this
loss?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I'm very happy.

Q. You fought pretty hard to get back into the first set. She played a good
tiebreak. Second set, your level seemed to drop.
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I just think she played better. I just think she made a
lot of lucky shots, and I made a lot of errors. I don't think my level
dropped.

Q. Isn't it making errors when your level drops?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I guess it is in a way, maybe my level did drop. I
definitely made a lot of errors. I think she just played a little bit more
aggressive and started hitting really, really hard balls.

Q. Were you at all surprised at just how aggressive she was? Coming in a
great deal, especially in the second set.
SERENA WILLIAMS: No.

Q. What were you thinking out there in the second set? Was there a way you
thought you could recover? Even then you had Love-30 on her first two service
games. Not like you were completely out of it.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, absolutely, I thought I was going to be able to
recover all those things. But I guess it didn't happen, so...

Q. Do you feel the lack of matches coming in might have affected you?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I feel I just -- I don't think that affected me.
I mean, I don't think it did. Maybe it did. I don't think so.

Q. Did she play as strong tonight as she ever has in previous times you faced
her?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, she played real strong tonight.

Q. Just talk about your serve. It's the one thing you can usually depend on.
It wasn't one of your best serving days either.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it definitely wasn't my best serving day. Yeah, it
wasn't my best today. I served better in my other rounds.

Q. Did you feel going into the match the way you normally feel when you're
playing a big match against her or was there something missing?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I was really excited to go into it. I was ready. I was
really ready to play.

Q. You've said you feel very strongly that when you're playing your best you
can beat anybody in the world. Has this match done anything to change that
feeling or do you still feel that way?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Do you think I played my best?

Q. No, I don't.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Okay, well, then...

Q. Are you saying that you lost the match rather than Justine won it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think that's usually the case with me, that it's for me to
win or lose.

Q. You seem much more disappointed than Paris or London.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Do I?

Q. You do.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Go figure.

Q. Figure what, though? Where is it coming from? Did you feel like you were
peaking, this was your?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I mean, I'm just -- I really don't feel like talking
about it, to be honest. It's like I don't want to get fined. That's the only
reason I came (laughter). I can't afford to pay the fines because I keep
losing.
Any more questions?

Q. How do you examine a loss like this? Do you go back and look at the tape?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I got to go back and study and figure out how to beat
her. That's it. Bottom line.

Q. Is there anybody else that you feel this way about playing against?
SERENA WILLIAMS: What do you mean? Feel what way?

Q. That you have to go back and figure out how to beat them.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh. Venus. She's playing good, always.
Thanks.