Serena Williams, aiming to win her first singles crown at Roland Garros since 2002, spoke candidly ahead of a difficult quarterfinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Excerpts
You're on a career-high winning streak. Do you put much stock in that?
No, I actually don't think about it, and after every match I'm reminded. And, ironically enough, I forget about it as soon as it's done. I don't think it's about a winning streak. I think it's about winning important matches and winning the right matches at the right time.
Does it help having someone working with you who is French? Last year you and Patrick [Mouratoglou] hooked up afterwards, started working together. Does it help to have someone who sort of understands all things French?
I think what's most important is having someone that just understands the game more than anything. I think, you know, being whether he was French or English or Australian, with those majors, I think that that's always a plus, but I don't think it's a turning point.
I’m an open individual. I'm kind of open to a lot of different things, and I liked some of his suggestions, so it was just like we can try to work together.
So just big picture, are you enjoying the dream? I mean, do you ever step back and say, Hey, being Serena Williams ain't too shabby?
Not once, I don't think so. I think it's important to kind of reflect on those moments, but I don't know. I'm always just so intense and so, like, focused and so like busy I don't think about anything else. For me it's not about the celebrity. It's just about doing what I can do, and anything else that comes with it is I guess a bonus. But for me I'm just a regular old person that just lives with my sister.
Having not won this tournament since 2002, in 2013 is this kind of your No.1 priority in the slams now because you have won everything else regularly, but is this kind of the big focus?
Every slam is really my priority. I would love to win this one, but there is still a lot of people in the draw that would love to win this tournament, as well. I'm just one of those. For me, it's just about focusing in on not just this particular one, but I think all four of them.
Courtesy: www.rolandgarros.com
