FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Inside Tennis caught up with <
strong>Richard Williams only moments after his daughter Serena’s 6-1, 7-6(5) third-round win over No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka at the U.S. Open.
INSIDE TENNIS: What makes Serena Williams so tough?
RICHARD WILLIAMS: She hates losing. She hates to lose so much. In the second set today, you could see it. She hit a few balls about as hard as she possibly could hit it. On of them went in. Two or three of them went out. That’s when she tried to play even harder. But almost all through the first set, she just moved Victoria around. She wasn’t trying to blow her off the court. I think that’s what she should have kept doing.
IT: When did you first see how much se hated to lose?
RW: When she was a little kid, about seven years old. It could have been eight. Tracy Austin might know better than me, because she called a match when she was playing Venus at an L.A. park. From that day forward, Serena always hated losing.
IT: At Stanford, you spoke about Serena caring too much. You were worried about that. Do think she still cares too much?
RW: Yes I do. When you care so much about something, you can never be as relaxed as you normally would. I think that was Sharapova‘s problem last night, too. Sharapova, in my opinion, is one of the greatest players there is, but I think she and Serena have a tendency, when things go down, instead of trying to think their way out of it, they try to hot their way out of it. Serena cares so much that she wants every ball in. In if doesn’t go in, if you look at her, you can see a little grin. If she could relax and stop caring about every point, I think she’s be alright. She should care about 80 percent or 75 percent of the points. The rest of it, you’ve just got to go out there and play relaxed. You can’t be putting all that pressure on yourself.
IT: Dick Enberg said her first pump said, “Don’t mess with me!” Is that how you saw it?
RW: Probably. I wouldn’t doubt it at all.
IT: Does she ever do that to you on the practice court?
RW: Serena and I hardly talk that much on the practice court. It’s a strange relationship. It’s so strange we hardly say anything to each other. If I want her to bend her knees [motions to knees]. If I want her to turn her shoulders [motions to shoulders]. We don’t have much to say to each other.
IT: In his book, Rafael Nadal says the best part of his relationship with his uncle Toni are the talks they have in the car. But not you…
RW: No. And I do the same thing with Venus. I don’t believe in doing a lot of coaching, because when they go out there, they have to think for themselves. If I do any talking, it’s more or less off the court for maybe five minutes. I don’t believe in talking.
IT: Is Serena a better player now or before her injury?
RW: I think she’s better now, in my opinion.
IT: You’ve seen Steffi Graf. You’ve seen Martina Navratilova. Who is the best between Serena, Steffi and Martina?
RW: Serena, right now, is not in their league, in my opinion. I’ve heard a lot of people say that she is, but she’s not in their league right now. When you look at Steffi and Martina, they’re not playing now. If Serena were playing in their era, they probably would beat her. Whether they beat her or not, she’s not in their league right now — not at all. I’m not saying they’re wrong. That’s just my opinion.
IT: You don’t think her serve or her speed would be better?
RW: Graf has proven what she can do. Serena’s still trying. I can’t take nothing from Steffi Graf, and I can’t take nothing from Martina Navratilova. They were so great.
IT: But what about Serena’s serve? Is that one of the best strokes ever?
RW: In my opinion, yes.
IT: What’s in your heart now that Venus has been hit by Sjolgren’s syndrome?
RW: I had never heard of that disease until Venus came out with it. I got on the iPad and looked it up, talked to different doctors that I know. They explained a lot of things to me. Johns Hopkins is very familiar with that. I’ve learned a lot about it. But I think Venus will be back. But if she doesn’t ever get back, I think Venus has done very well for tennis and very well for herself.
IT: What’s the greatest thing Venus has brought to the game?
RW: Her junior matches.
IT: Junior matches? Not the Wimbledons, the U.S. Opens?
RW: Yes. They were the most fun. Venus used to play with the Wilson Hammer. She would kill everyone. So I took the Wilson Hammer away from her and got her a racket that would not hit hard. Then she didn’t kill everyone. I decided that she loved it too much at that young of an age. So I had to stop her a little bit.
IT: You famously predicted that Venus and Serena would be Nos. 1 and 2.
RW: You’re going to have to buy the book.
IT: I’ll write the book. But seriously, how did you…
RW: I was hoping that they would be.
IT: What did you think when Serena Williams, the best player of our era, gets a No. 28 seed here at the U.S. Open?
RW: You see, Serena was about to die. I really thought she was going to die. It doesn’t matter if she loses 0 and 0 in every match to me any more.
IT: You had already lost a daughter. What were the emotions when Serena had her embolism?
RW: I don’t know. All I know is I didn’t try to fly to California. I drove. I had a lot of time to think about it.
IT: So when you were driving through Kansas, what did you think about these two girls who have changed the world?
RW: My first thought was blaming tennis. If she wasn’t playing tennis, she probably wouldn’t have been having that problem. At first I was. But when I got out there with Serena, I didn’t know what to say to her at all. I had no idea what to say. My wife and I started painting, and Serena came out there and started painting, and it looked like she got better once she started painting.
IT: But are you happy with tennis, happy that your girls are in tennis?
RW: Yes, without a doubt.
IT: And what’s the best thing tennis has given the Williams family
RW: Recognition around the world.
IT: Your family has been through so much…
RW: From a divorce, to a girlfriend who ran off, the dog left me, the maid quit, someone came and stole two of my cars. Man, what’s wrong with my life? I couldn’t figure it out.
IT: There was the infamous Indian Wells incident, Serena stepping on glass in a Munich bar, the knee surgery, the death in the family. How did you get through it all.
RW: Throughout this, we’ve been blessed. We’ve been very, very blessed.
