I'm sort of burned out here, but this material from Serena Williams is simply too good not to give you raw, right now - inconsistencies and all. Don't ask me how I got it, either. I'm going to identify the reporters who asked the different questions to the best of my ability:
Bud Collins: Petrova had you in a pretty tough spot. Did you consider it could have been all over in three minutes?
Serena: That would have been third round. She had me in a tough spot. But the funny thing about that match is, I never thought I was going to lose. She beat me like, 6-1 in the first. But I thought I was playing really well. When I was down 5-3, I thought "this is awful." But as long as I keep doing what I'm doing and just making sure that I look at my notes, look at the ball, do this, do that, it will come together. My balls were going out, but I remember my dad always said it's better if the ball is going out than in the net, so I was thinking it's just a matter of time before they start falling in. I just never felt I was going to lose that match. I always thought it was going to come together, Down 5-3, I was like, okay, it's got to come together right now.
Me: Do you remember Monica Seles' comeback at the U.S. Open by any chance?
Serena: I know she won Canada. I don't remember the Open. Did she win? Oh yeah, lost in the final then she won here. She was one of my favorite players to watch, I love Monica, to this day. That's what I always think of when I'm coming back. Wow. She came back, she won Canada. That was a huge tournament, Tier 1. I thought about that. If she can do that, nothing is impossible. It's been done before, so I can do it as well.
Doug Robson: What was it like coming here to play a Tier 4 event (Hobart)?
Serena: You know, that Tier-4 was special. I stayed at this really amazing hotel. It wasn't like those horror stories I'd heard about. I was a little nervous, but nothing like I expected. I was expecting something totally different. I was really nervous. But when I got there, the court was small, but really romatic. This background, like the ocean. I felt like i was practicing. I really liked it.
Chris Clarey: No youth hostel?
Serena: No, I've heard some war stories, and this was not one of them. there are worse Tier-4's than Hobart. The tournament director was really nice, facilities were great. There are a lot worse Tier-2's out there.
Bud Collins: Was the loss to (Sybille) Bammer discouraging?
Serena: After I lost to Bammer I locked myself up in my room. My mom wrote me, like, eight to ten emails. Serena, it's okay. She wrote me, like, where are you? She wrote, yo need to come out, you need to train. Like, she wrote me so may emails. I was so upset I lost that match. So I left the hotel, Ieft my sidekick and my phone. I ran, got in shape. Went to this field where no one was at - it was like a Rocky moment - I was like in this big park in Hobart. I had no water. I just had all my workout gear.
I was determined not to let that happen again. I was doing all the exercises that my physio had me doing. I did some squats and then I was doing some sprints. I was doing shuttle runs, when you run and run back. . . I was doing like six sets of shuttle runs. I had no water. I remember I had my Ipod on, I walked to get some water. I came back and did squats on one leg, then I'd do the other leg, like on these stairs. Then I was running. I was, like, so mad I lost that match and I just did, like, the ultimate workout, basically. I think it paid off.
Then I flew in here and I went for a run later that day. That's how I knew I was fit. Because I was still running. I got here, said, Okay I'm going for a run. I ran up this big hill. I ran around and ran back to the hotel.
Clarey: Was it because you lost to Sybille Bammer, or you just couldn't handle losing in a Tier-4?
Serena: She, by the way, played unbelievable. Not only that, it was the fact that I hadn't won a tournament in a while. I was sure I was going to be a winner. I didn't do it. It was a disappointment to me, I let myself down.
Me: Do you understand how some commentators, and ultimately even many of your fans, almost gave up.. like what's Serena doing with her career? She's letting herself go, is it ever going to happen for her again?
Serena: I can definitely see how some people were like, what happened to Serena? I hadn't played in a while. But when I did play there was a lot of coverage. For tennis players, it's really weird, you play like once, twice a month at the very least. I can understand some of it. I was dealing with a lot of stuff, and I was just tying to figure out my game, what I wanted to do. All I wanted to do was be the best tennis player and at the same time I wanted to do what made me happy. I love winning, the thing that makes me happy is playing tennis,. I love winning, I don't care if its Uno (a simple card game) or running a race. I love winning.
Matt Cronin: Your mother said you've been playing since 4, you needed a mental break.
Serena: Like I said before the Open, I not only wanted to take a physical break, I needed to take a mental break. I really needed it. My career has been like always, whether playing or not, I've always been like in the spotlight, or in the media. I needed time to reflect, pull myself together, get myself together physically. So when I had that break, I was able to get a mental break as well. I desperately needed it. I was going through my sister's death, my grandmother's death (maternal side). Surgeries. I just needed to re-group. Once that all came together. . . Then I was able to take some time off and look at some matches and say, wow, I can be there again. I got my hunger back. Nothing like being hungry for sport of tennis. I was like really hungry, famished, eager to feed.
