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ROGERS CUP WOMEN


August 4, 2014


Serena Williams


MONTREAL, QUEBEC

THE MODERATOR:  Questions for Serena.

Q.  How does it feel to be in Montréal?  You haven't been here in a long time.
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It feels good.  I'm starting to have little pieces of memories like, Oh, I remember this.  It's been a little bit forever, but it's good to be here.

Q.  You're coming off a win.  How do you feel about your game heading into the tournament?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Really good.  Definitely was excited to get that win under my belt.  But that was already last week, so now I'm moving on to this week.

Q.  Do you feel tired with the jetlag and everything?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, not at all.  I don't feel tired at all.  I didn't really sleep.  For some reason I'm still going.

Q.  Are you going to train today?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I already hit today.

Q.  We know that you love Paris.  Is there anything you get off on with Montréal, with the French vibe?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It does have that mixture European vibe mixed with the USA.  I think it's almost a perfect mixture, which makes it such a great city.
So, I don't know.  You know, I love Europe.  It kind of gives me my little European fix by coming to Montréal.

Q.  How about the French accent here?  Can you get the French accent?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It's definitely different.  I can definitely hear the difference between the French and the Canadians.  Yeah, I understand it though.

Q.  Can you talk about how you're looking at the summer tournaments leading up to the US Open, whether the chase for the 18th Grand Slam has been a burden or something joyful or something in between?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I think the summer tournaments, I'm trying to do my best, not in the tournaments but in each match more than anything.  Just try to improve with each match.
As for chasing the 18th one, that thing has been avoiding me.  So hopefully one day I'll catch up with it (smiling).

Q.  Hometown girl Eugenie Bouchard, a big crowd favorite here.  If you keep winning, you'll end up in the quarterfinals against her.  What do you think of her chances playing against you?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, I think she has a really good chance.  She's had a stellar year, to be honest.  She's done better than me in a lot of the tournaments.
Yeah, I think it will be a really good matchup.  I hope I can get there.  I feel like she'll be there regardless, so yeah.

Q.  What can you recall of the year 2000 when you were here in Montréal?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  I honestly don't remember much.  I remember more about the city than the tournament.  But I don't remember it too much.
I'm not one to have the best memory, so...

Q.  You were talking about that you might meet Eugenie in the quarterfinals.  How would you rate and qualify her improvement since the beginning of the season?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  She's improving I think every tournament.  I think that's what's important, is to keep doing your best.  I think she definitely does that.

Q.  You've reached 200 weeks at No.1.  How do you feel about that?  What are your thoughts?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, it's cool.  I feel really good about it.  It's really awesome for me.  I'm really kind of excited that I was able to get to 200.  Yet another check off the list.

Q.  Another milestone?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah.

Q.  The Australian and Roland Garros on your mind at all?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Not so much.  A little bit.  But right now I'm kind of just focused on the singles, having fun, enjoying each year that I'm able to go.

Q.  Bouchard is obviously a big story here.  What do you remember about being a phenom, what you found easy to handle or what you enjoyed or didn't enjoy?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, you know, when you're young, coming on the scene, everything is so exciting.  Especially if you're doing so well, it's even better.  You have an opportunity to be great and it just feels really good.
But obviously you're not thinking about it at that age.  I think I kind of reflect on it more.  Kind of when you're younger, you're just living in the moment.

Q.  Do you have any sense of, How did I do that, get to this point where I'm 33 now and still here?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, technically I'm 32, so watch it (laughter).
No, I don't really think about it.

Q.  When Chris Evert says things like Genie might be the next face of tennis, does that make her any more of a challenge to you?  Do you see her as another young up‑and‑comer who wants your crown?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, I think she's speaking truth.  I think Genie is a great player.  I think she for sure is the future face of tennis.  She's already proven being one of the faces of tennis now.  Why wait for the future?  So, yeah.

Q.  Training in Croatia, when you see the results in the last tournament, how important was it for you?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  It was really important for me to keep training.  I really wanted to play in Bastad, but I wasn't ready.  I just had to take it one step at a time training.  I guess it paid off.

Q.  Do you plan on enjoying the city off the court?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  If I have time.  I don't know if I'll have a lot of time, but we'll see.

Q.  Do you understand why people found Wimbledon so frightening, to watch you there?
SERENA WILLIAMS:  We talked about that last week.  I think you missed that one.  Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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