US OPEN

September 7, 2001

Venus Williams

THE MODERATOR: First question for Venus, please.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I feel real good. Yeah, just happy I got the win and I guess maybe the significance is just settling in still.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It was just windy. I was having a tougher time with the wind today and, you know, if anything, I feel like my forehand was better than my backhand these two weeks. If anything, I was struggling more on my backhand really. So once I got in touch with the wind, it was okay.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I knew I was only down one break. I just didn't feel like it was my day to leave the tournament. A lot of times you can feel your demise. Today I just didn't feel it.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's sweet. It's sweet. Just real nice. Had a lot of blessings from God. And we're happy that we're healthy and we're happy to be here.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Definitely. I'm still trying to take the title home. I know that she won't be giving up anything tomorrow, too. It's been like two years for her since she's won. It's been a year for me since I won here, too. So...

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I didn't feel any pressure because, more than anything, I wanted to win my match. So I didn't take into account that she had won. I was really happy she had won, for sure. The way she closed it out was impressive. So I think maybe I had a little motivation to close mine out, too. But today I wasn't so much into the score. I was more or less like into keeping those points for me. Finally, it was finished.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, we'll just keep on keeping on. In the end, we're taking everything home.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, definitely not. We'll probably go out and eat. That's necessary (laughing).

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I guess it depends on if I choose a different practice time, then I won't hit with her. If we choose the same time, then we'll hit together. Sometimes we choose different times.

VENUS WILLIAMS: A lot of matches we played haven't been considered championship, heroic matches. I think that tomorrow will be different, especially since the fact that I'm going to be returning, you know, a serve very similar to mine and I haven't had to do that in quite a long time. So that's going to be an experience, too.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just that in general I just rise to the occasion with each match. I wouldn't say today the match I played was an epic thriller. You can't expect that from every match. The match Andre and Pete played, that was fantastic. That doesn't happen every year, every tournament.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I hope so. We come out there, compete, and just play well.

VENUS WILLIAMS: We're just two different players, two different persons, react to situations differently. I think -- I hope at least tomorrow that I'll be.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I have nothing to prove in my life. All I have to do is live and pay my taxes. That's all (laughter).

VENUS WILLIAMS: Everyone has injuries, you know, every player. It's hard. Especially toward this point of the year, because all the hardcourts, all the matches, your body gets worn down naturally. You strain muscles easier. So actually I'm in better health physically this year than what I was last year.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm okay. I haven't asked Serena.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think that anyone would have wrote that or said that was very unprofessional. I take pride in my sport and my performance. You know, I'm just appalled that anyone would hint something like that. But I don't think that has ever been the case and that it ever will be.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, one time we had to hit from eight to three in the afternoon. But that was a long time ago, when we were kids. We didn't want to be there. But it happened. Finally, we left.

VENUS WILLIAMS: When you're little, those kind of things happen. You just keep hitting and hitting. You're ready to go, but you just keep hitting. When you're young, you put those hours in. When you get older, the time's less and less.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Maybe the mixed doubles we played in '98 at the French Open. That was pretty competitive. No one seems to remember that (smiling).

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just think he's put a lot of work into this, a lot of hours, a lot of sacrifices on his part. I guess he's just proud of both of us.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Basically, it was my dad's dream, my mom's dream. They told us we'd be here playing each other in the finals. That's why we believed it. If they had told us we would never make it playing tennis, I don't think we'd be here today. So it all started with my parents giving us positive reinforcement.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, a lot of times when you put two powerful players against one another, it's more difficult because the unforced error count can become high because of both players. If you put a powerful player and a less powerful one, they both have to adjust to each other's games. I guess we'll have to keep the unforced errors down.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think Serena and I, we both mix it up. Should we go for our speed, because it's easy to get points off a short ball we can move in on. Then also we do hit some kick serves and some sliders. So it's variety that's the spice of life. That's what keeps our opponents on their toes.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think in their minds we've succeeded already - not really with just tennis, but just with being people and good citizens. That's all they wanted for us, is for us to be happy in our lives and to do what we want. At this point, we've done what we wanted, we've been successful and we're healthy. That's all they wanted from us.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm here to compete. I couldn't be too bothered. I won the first set. Things had went my way. I was feeling pretty good at that point.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I did take one of her qualities. You know, just her will to fight. That's how I became a fighter, too.

VENUS WILLIAMS: This was like in '98 in Sydney, Serena was playing a top player (inaudible). Serena was down 1-6, love-5. She was fighting like there was no tomorrow, like it was her last day on Earth. After that I reconsidered. I wasn't such a fighter. After that, I became a fighter, too. That's what I took from her game. We've taken different things from each other's game and advised each other.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I don't know. I tell her different things, what I've learned over the years. But I don't know. You'd have to ask her.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm always hoping to play a clean match (laughter).

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, that was a tough match because I had taken seven days off, and it was very windy. So I wasn't playing my best tennis. That was the toughest part of it. But other than that, it was okay.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I didn't see that she was tired or not. She's a pretty strong person. Well, actually a person and player. I didn't see her fatigue. Maybe she was searching for the answers to get back into the match. Maybe I saw that, but in my opinion, she ran for every ball.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, I'm accustomed to the wind at this point. Every year I play here, I play through the wind. Likely, she hasn't had the same experience that I've had in the wind. So maybe that was a factor.

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's fantastic. It is. When I first heard about the prime time final, I was hoping that I'd be there. I was gonna make it my personal goal, you know, my personal dream to be in the final. And it's happened. What do you know, there's Serena, too. It's great. It would have been great, in my opinion, if it was -- especially for us. It's women's tennis, it's the last final, it's in America. It would have been if it was Serena, Jennifer, Lindsay, an all-American final, it would have been great.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, I don't know. I don't know too much about things outside of tennis. I understand things in this small world, but outside of what's growing and what's happening, I don't know.

VENUS WILLIAMS: We do what makes us happy. I feel I've played enough. So... I've been to places that I've wanted to be. I've had good times and good memories there. For me, that's what counts.