SERENA WILLIAMS IN PRESS CONFERENCE. US OPEN 201

WILLIAMS IN PRESS CONFERENCE AUSTRALIAN OPEN. 

Q. The moment really seemed to hit you out on the court there. Was it the No. 18 that really came through to you?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yes, it was definitely the number 18. I have been trying to reach it for so long, since last year. Well, since the beginning of the year. I didn't really think would I get there. I just felt so good.

Q. What does it mean for you overall to be up there with the other great names?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It means a lot to me. You know, I just could never have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova, because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet. Living in Compton, you know, this never happened before. You know, I just never could have imagined that it could have ended -- not ended. I'm just beginning. Well, I'm not beginning, but I could have gotten this far, you know. So it was just -- I think it was -- and then it was eluding me for three tournaments, I guess. But, still that's a lot for me. I was like, you know, really excited to get it.

Q. You never lost more than three games per set in this tournament. By the end, every time you win you seemed so excited, almost unbelievable. How do you explain? They are easy matches or not?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, none of the matches are easy. I mean, even today if I would have lost a game I would have been serving for it. Caroline was returning, starting to play a lot better, starting to return really, really well, and then she started serving really well. So we had longer points and we were running back and forth and back and forth. So it definitely wasn't anything that was easy.

Q. Coming in you downplayed a little bit the fact that this was your last chance at a Grand Slam title this year and that it wasn't that essential, but I'm thinking that you thought it was pretty important to close out a season without a slam.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah.

Q. Now that it's over and you've done it...

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it feels good. I definitely did not think I was going to win a slam this year. And I even said, I'm ready to start next year already. Let's put this behind me. Oh, I'm embarrassed. I feel really honored and I feel really good. Just almost lost for words. I'm grateful to win a Grand Slam this year. It feels really good.

Q. Congrats, kid.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Thanks.