TENNIS US OPEN 2014 – 24th of August 2014. An interview with Serena Williams
Q. Could you tell us what your expectations were entering 2014 and whether or not winning the US Open was critical to having had a successful season?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. I think my expectations are always really high. I always expect the best from myself. I always try to do the best that I can.
Q. What was your initial reaction when you found out you were opening against Taylor Townsend, a top ranked junior, a fellow American? We don’t really see that in this tournament.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it’s going to be a great match for me. She’s such a great player. Extremely young. I have been able to see her play a little bit. She does everything really, really well. We’re really good friends. We always talk and always text each other. It’s going to be a really tough match for me.
Q. David Letterman the other night said No. 1 favorite for me. This is a monumental tournament in a sense. I know you talked after the Western & Southern feeling like you could play for a long time. Is it something where, if you get to 22 or 23 you might decide to hang them up?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, that would be just really amazing if I can make it that far. Competition is a little stiff now, so I have to do the best that I can. I can’t even think that far, to be honest.
Q. This could be 18. This would be obviously a tie with Chris.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. Australian, Wimbledon, and French also could have been 18; didn’t quite happen.
Q. I want to ask about your game against Maria Sharapova. Do you consider her your main rival? And playing with her, how would you describe it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, it’s always fun to play her. She’s a very intense player. I think I’m a super intense player. I think in that aspect of intensity, we have a lot in common.
Q. How has your routine changed since you debuted in ’98, and how has it stayed the same?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think my match routine, I just really try to focus on the match. I just really dedicate those few hours to just, you know, strictly tennis. When the match is over, I kind of do relax a little bit. But obviously in most tournaments and Grand Slams, if you win a match there is always a match the next day, so you can’t let your guard down too much. It’s a lot of mental work I think for two weeks to just always kind of stay super focused.
Q. In the spirit of Artur Ashe Kids’ Day today, what do you think Artur would say about you playing Taylor in the first round here and about your career in general?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think he would say it’s a great opportunity to see, you know, a veteran American player play the future of American tennis. He was such an amazing guy. I had an opportunity to meet him. So I think he would be really proud and honored to see so many young African-American players, especially in America, doing so well and playing so hard and just being role models for even the next generation.
Q. What would you take from his career and his life?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I believe he had a great positive spirit. You know, you have to go through what he went through. He had an incredibly positive spirit and just a positive outlook on everything. Obviously I didn’t get to know him. I was incredibly young when I met him and it was ever so brief, but his legend absolutely lives on.
Q. On that note, we Europeans have this romantic notion when a new German guy comes to the NBA, Dirk Nowitski takes him under his wing. Do you see that as your role with younger American players?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I would love to do that. I would love to see myself in that role. I definitely talk to a lot of the younger players how to get a champions’ mindset and how to become a champion. Hopefully they can take the advice and do it.
Q. Do you think the psychological qualities of somebody that’s been as successful as you have been on the court, do you think they are innate or do you think they can be learned?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think a lot of things can be learned. A lot is innate. You may have some people who may not have as much talent as the next person, but they work really hard and they make it their own and make themselves a lot better. I definitely think it is something that can be learned.
