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Venus Williams 1R interview

  • def. Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 6-2

Q. You must be pleased with your fight back from a set and 3-5 down in the second.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, my opponent was playing really well. There are no easy matches here. I was really happy to be able to play better than an opponent who is really in form.

Q. It took a while to shake off your opponent. What kind of changed out on the court?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I just tried to play better. I mean, there were moments where it looked like maybe she had the match at that time. I kind of just forgot the score and kind of focused on my game. That's what's great about tennis: the clock doesn't run out.

Q. It's your 19th appearance here. How is your form?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I really thought I played well today. I thought my opponent played really well. Those sorts of matches aren't easy where you don't have a lot of openings, where you have to try to create something and see what happens. So I was really pleased.

Q. What kind of a different challenge do you think it will be to play Cornet in the second round in terms of the kind of opponent you're going to face?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I mean, big difference is that she's right-handed. I'm probably going to see some spins that I'm a little more used to. Clearly she can play tennis, has had some great results in her career.

I'll probably be less focused on what she's doing and more focused on what I'm doing.