STATE FARM EVERT CUP


March 10, 1998


Venus Williams

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA


Q. She had a little run at you in the first set. Did you worry at all?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I knew that -- I went up 4-Love. I think she was making
errors. I was playing aggressively. I was attacking the second serves. But
then when I got up 4-Love, she began to hit a lot more balls very deep,
whereas I couldn't attack her as much as I would have liked to. She began to
play much better. I lost serve twice. At 4-All was my serve, so I really felt
comfortable because I have a pretty good serve these days. I was pretty
confident the whole time.


Q. What about the second set, Venus? You kind of rolled over her. Looks like
she got a little frustrated.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I've seen her play before. I know she's the type of player
that doesn't give up. I was very confident in the second set. I always am,
especially after I win the first one. I felt I had nothing to lose. I was
winning. I just played like -- that was it.


Q. Are you starting to feel the pressure of the celebrity -- being a
celebrity?

VENUS WILLIAMS: No.


Q. A lot of little girls waiting for autographs, always one more to sign, no
matter how many you sign.

VENUS WILLIAMS: That is true. If you don't sign one, someone always gets the
misunderstanding that, "She doesn't have time for her fans." It's not like
that. I don't think people understand to what degree you have to be patient.
People always want pictures, autographs. I understand that because I probably
would want one, too. Sometimes there's only so much one person can do. If
people don't understand that, you can't always give everyone autographs all
the time. But I think I have to look at that levelheaded. Everyone is going
to understand, I suppose. If they don't, then people can't live and breathe
for me. I have to do that of the -- I have to be happy.


Q. Venus, are you pretty psyched up for your doubles match? It's a nice
match-up between four of the youngest great players on the Tour. Should be a
lot of fun?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm excited for every doubles match. I love playing doubles
with Serena. No matter what, we always have fun. Whenever we get too serious,
we say to each other, "Do you remember last year when we were playing at
Indian Wells, we were losing, we were no good. How we laughed even though we
were losing?" I'm like, "Serena, how come we're not having fun now?" That's
what we say. No matter what, we have fun.


Q. Do you have some fond memories of this place last year? You had that great
match with Lindsay Davenport? Is that important? Do you remember those things?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Definitely. How could I forget? I have all types of great
memories from last year, Serena and I together. We had lots of fun,
especially.