Melbourne (AFP)
Eliminated in the third round Friday of the Australian Open, Serena Williams was more angry with herself than disappointed. "It's not professional," she said after losing to China's Qiang Wang who she swept in 44 minutes at the last US Open.
QUESTION: What was your state of mind after tying a set everywhere?
ANSWER: "I was optimistic, I thought I would win the match. I said to myself + OK, now we have to finish +. I really did not think that I would lose this meeting. She did not play the same way today hui (as in Flushing Meadows). And I made a lot of mistakes. I didn't make as many bad shots in New York, or even in general for a very long time. I made too many mistakes for a professional athlete. She served well, but I didn't go back like Serena. Honestly, if you don't want to lie, everything is for me. I lost the match. That's how it is. "This is not this tournament, it's just that I can't play like that. Really, it shouldn't happen again. It's not professional."
Q: Your life outside of tennis is very busy. Defeat doesn't seem to affect you as much as it did a few years ago ...
A: "It's just that I'm a better actress, as I say now. I'm not happier than ten years ago, but I have to pretend I don't want to smash the wall ... when 'actually I'm dying for it.'
Q. Deep down, do you think you will be able to one day win this 24th Grand Slam title?
A: "Absolutely! If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't be on the circuit. I'm not playing just for fun. Losing is really no fun. But I don't know .. I've pretty much played the last two Grand Slam tournaments of the year (Wimbledon and US Open finals, ed.) I've won them all at least once. Each of the four is a chance for me to But the problem is not that it's a Grand Slam, it's me: I have to come up with a good game, and I didn't do it today, which is even more disappointing. It's not even a victory, it's that I AM better than that! "
Comments gathered at a press conference
© 2020 AFP