TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 24th of January 2015. V.Williams d. C.Giorgi 4-6, 7-6, 6-1. An interview with Venus Williams
Q. How did you see the match?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, she played amazing. Thought she played awesome and just so aggressive. Everything was working for her. I’ve never played her before, so it’s challenging to get a rhythm against her. It’s challenging to know what the exact plays are. As the match went on I think I was able to get a little bit more settled and figure that out a little bit. But she played great. Just kind of kept trying to get games on my board so hopefully I would get an opening at some point.
Q. You were down a break in the second set and triple break point on the 4-2. She served for it later. Was the tournament flashing before your eyes? How did you keep your focus?
VENUS WILLIAMS: In those moments you’re just so in the moment that you don’t — you know the score, but it’s almost like you don’t as well. So when that was happening, my whole focus was, Okay, let me try to hold serve instead of, Oh, shoot, this is almost over. I felt like in the first set I had some chances on the 5-4 return game. In the second set I just felt like if I play one or two points better then I’m in there.
Q. How much does this run mean to you? First time making it to the second week of slam since you revealed the diagnosis. What does it mean? Is it a breakthrough?
VENUS WILLIAMS: For me, I always believe in my ability, but sometimes, you know, you don’t get results for whichever reason. Could be many. I think as long as I know that I’ve got it in me, that’s it. Like I said, I’ve won big. It’s not like I haven’t done it before. I said this the other day: For me, I like to win titles. I like to win titles, whether it’s a smaller event or a big event. That’s what I play for. So, yes, great, it’s great to be in the second week. But is fourth round my goal when I come to these tournaments? No.
Q. For one set and a half when you were exchanging rallies with the forehands she was making many more points, then something changed. I would like to know if you changed strategy, tactic or if she made more mistakes? What happened? Suddenly you started playing many more backhands and different playing.
VENUS WILLIAMS: (Laughter.) I think I just tried to make more shots. I think, yeah, definitely changed strategy because if one strategy is not working, then you have to change it. That’s the thing about being a tennis player. You have to have more than one strategy. So I did switch things up. I don’t like to get into what strategies I use. I like to keep them for me in case I have to use them again. Yeah, I did change my strategy and I think that helped a lot.
Q. Is age an irrelevance? Because you and your sister both played opponents considerably younger than you two. You both lost the first set and came through in the third. When you’re talking, do you ever talk about the youngsters coming through?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think we talk maybe more about all the players we see that aren’t playing anymore. We just can’t figure out how we’re still here. That’s probably more on our mind. When you walk on that court, there is no such thing as age, height, any of that stuff. It’s really an even playing field. It’s a matter of can you get the ball in? Can you win the point or not. It doesn’t matter any of these variables. That’s what they are: Variables. I don’t think that enters our mind out there.
Q. Between you and Serena, when I see you both playing, you move much better, in my opinion. You are able to recover some balls that Serena cannot. But she’s playing more aggressive and she likes to drive the situation. Do you agree with that? Or just my perception and maybe I’m drunk?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I don’t know. When I play her, she gets every ball back. Honestly, I felt like I could move a little bit better. I think we’re — we both move well. I think that’s — anyone who moves well, yeah, you’re going to be able to play some pretty good tennis. At the end of day, I think we’re both pretty aggressive. I don’t think you see either of us just sit back and hope someone misses. We want to control the point.
Q. On Camila Giorgi, do you think she has a potential to become a top-10 player? She beat Sharapova. Do you think she has a potential or she’s very immature?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think she has a potential, for sure. She has a big game. She has motivation. Looks like she’s working hard. She’s moving up the rankings. I think the more she plays, she’s going to learn. It’s about dealing with the pressure. I think that’s one of the hardest things to learned to do, is just deal with the pressure. Every point of the match, every day that you’re playing, it’s not easy for any player.
