US OPEN


September 5, 1997


Venus Williams

Flushing Meadows, New York


Q. How does it feel, Venus?

VENUS WILLIAMS: When I first won, it was like I was so happy because it was a
long match, we both worked so hard for it. Luckily, I came out the winner. I
was really happy. I'm pretty happy now. I'm just getting over it, so. Just
moving on, moving on.

Q. Did you think coming into the US Open that you had a chance to win it or
even get to the final?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I'm really not sure what I thought. I mean, it's so
long ago. I just wanted to come here and play well and play like I could. And
today, I think I played much better. Not much better, but it's just that I
was playing much more what I practice on. I was coming to the net more
instead of camping out at the baseline, just holding camp. I came to the net
much more. That's really something I wanted to do. If you can't do it in the
big matches. I need to do that, especially with my height. I have good
volleys. It's not like I didn't have any. So I was just happy about that.

Q. 4-3 in the second set, at the changeover chair, you and Spirlea bumped
into each other. She was pretty upset about it when she was in here, put the
blame on you for the collision. What was your view of it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, I'm not having any injuries from that bump
(laughter). I think we just both weren't looking. I think we both were just
concentrating on trying to stay in the match and trying to win the match. I
mean, I really wasn't even thinking about that. So I'm sorry she feels that
way. It's not really a big thing to me.

Q. Anybody say, "Excuse me"?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no. No one said, "Excuse me."

Q. Venus, in the third game of the third set, you double-faulted three times.
You faced breakpoints. Do you recall that as a low point? Were you a little
tired perhaps mentally and physically at that stage?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I wasn't tired. I think that maybe I was letting down a
little bit. I said, "I just can't keep losing serve like this." So I just
held strong.

Q. But it was a let down point?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And plus, like the wind was blowing
my toss around. I didn't bother to retoss it up again. I should have done
that. I should have just threw up another toss.

Q. Venus, you were consulting notes on changeovers. Was that match strategy
or something else?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. Those are just reminders, bend your knees, someone tells
me to do that. Sometimes I tend to strike a little bit flat. So I just write,
"Get under the ball." Things like that. Little reminders. Plus most of all
just keeps you focused on the match. In the past, I had a problem with
staying focused.

Q. Venus, did you get a chance to call your dad after the match?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, no, I wanted to. I just didn't have a chance to. I was
going to.

Q. On TV you said the match was like a dream. What's been the sweetest part
of the dream?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was, because, it was really a tough match, she had
two match points. Somehow she just didn't win them. Somehow I didn't let her
win them. Whatever way you want to look at it. I just came through. I'm going
to have to evaluate these things after I leave the tennis center.

Q. What were you saying when you were match point down? What were you saying
to yourself?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, actually, what I -- no, wait.

Q. We won't tell anyone.

VENUS WILLIAMS: You'll just write it, right? Won't tell, though.

Q. Was this the best match you ever played? Let her answer the question.
Wait, wait.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I guess I was thinking about going home. I said, "This is not
the right thing, Venus." I had to hold strong. She didn't put in a real big
first serve. It wasn't like well placed. It just gave me a chance to get it
back. I had to push those thoughts out of the way. "Venus, this isn't right.
It's not over. She has to win a point to get the match." So I just stayed in
there.

Q. What do you think about your chances against Hingis?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I definitely think they're pretty good. I think I'm just
going to go out there and play a match, just like I played today, just like I
played the other days. She's going to do the same thing. You got to go out
there and beat the person before you have the title. That's the way it is.

Q. Would you say that like a high-jumper, you won by half an inch? You raised
one match point with your ball going on the line?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm not understanding your question.

Q. I said, do you think you won because of half an inch, just because one
ball of yours on match point went on the line?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No.

Q. At the right moment?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I don't think I won by half an inch. No, no.

Q. Venus, ever since you were a little girl, I should say, and not playing
the juniors, people have been wondering about you and waiting to see just how
good you are. Do you feel likee right now you've shown that You've said
everybody has to worry about themselves. Do you feel at this point that
you've shown everybody just how good you are?

VENUS WILLIAMS: In the past, I really didn't worry about what other people
thought because it was important what I thought, what my family thought. So I
really didn't focus on that. Everyone has their own opinion. They're going to
have it. I'm not going to change it. So I definitely knew that one day people
would see, and I would just -- it would just be a little bit of time. I
hadn't played that much. So, I guess this is just a great tournament for me.
Maybe a fraction of the talk will stop.

Q. Do you feel a little bit better, though, about your chances against
Martina compared to the first two times you played her? You have more
experience since then.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. The first two times -- I mean, the first time I played
okay. I didn't play that well. I wasn't able to just stay in there. She
definitely played well. She didn't try to give me any points. The second
time, I just gave it away. It was just giving. It was giving. It was her
match to take. I don't blame her for taking it if I was going to give it.

Q. Did you realize, Venus, during the last tiebreak in the third set the
support was given to you by the former Mayor of New York, Mr. David Dinkins,
that was standing and trying to encourage you when you were 2-4 down?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. Because, like, in my other matches, I would hear
somebody behind me in that same area saying, "Break time, break time," things
like that. Finally I looked up. Guess who it was? Dinkins. I was like, "Oh,
my God." I finally figured out who it was. I would just hear the same, "Break
time." I would say, "Yeah, yeah." I looked up today. "I'm going to figure out
who this is."

Q. You had these two tiebreakers. If you hadn't been able to win, people
might say, "She's not match tough, she hasn't put the years in on the junior
circuit, she's not match tough mentally." Where do you get this from? Where
do you have that if you haven't played as many matches?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think there's a lot of myths floating around. When I'm in
practice, especially the last three, four weeks before the tournament, two or
three weeks, whatever it was, I tried to stay focused in the match because a
lot of times I wasn't doing that. I think a lot of people believe you have to
be match tough and things like that. You just have to know how to play and
you have to believe that you can do it. You just have to go out there and do
it. So some people, they might need to be match tough. For others, I don't
know. But I do agree that you have to play a little bit. I haven't had to
play that much because I can tell you, like a year ago, like when I first
started playing, I looked back and said, "I didn't know what to do." I just
didn't know. But it hasn't taken me long to learn. Hasn't taken me many
matches. A lot of people, it depends on who you are, how you look at it
maybe.

Q. Your dad didn't want you to come here. Now you're in the Finals. Is that
at the end of the story? You won the argument?

VENUS WILLIAMS: He didn't really want me to come, but I convinced him that I
needed to be here, just like the Thursday four days before I left. So I got
my practice in, worked hard, even though it was super hot and horrible. I'm
glad I'm here. He's glad. It's not like I'm going to go and say, "I was
right." He's not going to say, "I was wrong." Doesn't really matter.

Q. Why is your dad at home? Why did he stay home?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I answer that question like every time. I don't want to
answer it anymore.

Q. I'm from Africa. Venus, do you realize what you've done for Africa today?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I don't.

Q. I'm telling you, my dear, you've done Africa proud. We'd love to see you
in the finals.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'd love to see that, too.

Q. There's talk of waning tennis in the United States. Can you
single-handedly pull together a new generation?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't think about those things when I play. I don't think
about pulling tennis together, holding women's tennis up, whatever. That's
your job. You guys say that. That's your job. It's not mine to think about.
You guys are supposed to write it, make people interested. I'll leave it to
you.

Q. No pressure or anything?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I play for myself.

Q. I meant on us.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's your job.

Q. Does Hingis, her game, her record, anything about her scare you or
intimidate you?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've never been that type of person who is like scared,
fearful. I can't let that hold me back. I won't. This is a chance of a
lifetime, a tournament of a lifetime. I've done well. I wouldn't be angry if
I didn't win. But I'm not going to go out there and be afraid, because fear
holds you back. I won't let it happen.

Q. How much did you enjoy the pressure, the attention, the excitement of the
late parts of this match?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I was just out there playing every point. I'm not the kind of
player that looks back and remembers, "Oh, man, I could have closed it out,"
stuff like that. At one point it was actually 4-3, I was going to break. I
thought it was 3-2. I looked up, said, "Oh, my God, it's 4-3." I thought it
was 3-2.

Q. (Inaudible).

VENUS WILLIAMS: Irina, no. The first set, her forehand, she wasn't hitting.
She was just playing, it was landing inside the service box, gave me a chance
to attack it. Second and third set, she got out there and started striking
it. On her slice, she'd have all that power.

Q. Venus, what are your favorite memories, one or two, from when you first
started to play the game of tennis when you were very young?

VENUS WILLIAMS: My, I don't know. I don't think about that every day, so.
What can I say? The first time I played a junior match, I was playing the 10.
I was playing in a satellite. I was ready to play. Then I got a default. I
was so sad, I think I started crying. I was like nine. Then everyone else
realized how sad I was. My older sister started teasing and -- I don't know
what they said. They started teasing me. I was so sad.

Q. Are any of your other siblings here?

VENUS WILLIAMS: My sister Serena is here and my other two sisters from DC,
they came up on the weekends for two weekends. Now they're going to come up
again to see the Finals.

Q. Most of the match, or all the match, you displayed a very mature
composure. Could you likely tell us who advised you about that? Where did you
learn it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I think it's just the way I am. A lot of
players are cool and composed. Some players are fiery and angry. It's just
me, I guess. I mean, a lot of times, like in the past, if I won a point or a
game, I would start smiling. Kind of got unfocused. I had to quit the smiling
for this moment now. Maybe in the future I can start doing that some more.
Focused people come back on you. I don't know what hit me. In the future,
I'll start smiling more. I did it like three tournaments ago. It wasn't
working for me. I'd get unfocused. Now I keep my straight face.

Q. You said earlier it's not a good idea to dropshot you, because you're
going to get those shots. Spirlea tried time and again. Were you surprised at
that?

VENUS WILLIAMS: She must not have heard me say it, I guess (laughter). I
mean, I'm going to get the dropshot, that's all there is to it. I love people
that hit dropshots on me.

Q. You have yet to win a set off of Martina Hingis. How different do you
think you are from then and what will you do differently?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've learned a lot of things in this Open. I've learned to
put more balls in play, not to go for winners so prematurely, not to rush
things. I've learned a lot of things. Things are different. Doesn't matter,
I'm going to be ready.

Q. The reality of you in the US Open, has that fully sunk in yet or does that
come later on tonight?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Maybe later on tonight.

Q. Venus, do you feel that Althea Gibson may have had some influence on your
playing the game or wanting to play the game in any way?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I answered a question similar to this earlier this week. I
said earlier that it's mostly something intangible.

Q. I must say, keep up the good work.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Thank you.

Q. Where do you get the inspiration?

VENUS WILLIAMS: From God.