Serena Williams: Pre-Championships Press Conference — Wimbledon 2026

[0:02] hi everybody welcome to serena williams press conference i ask you to raise your hand if you'd [0:08] like to ask a question uh first question please rob serena welcome back um what was the main [0:14] emotion when you walk through the gates for that first practice session and in the four years you [0:19] have been away anything new you've seen perhaps you were surprised about um i i can't say i had [0:26] a lot of emotions only because i think i was in queens earlier and i was in london and i was on [0:31] the grass and i think being in queens in particular because it was in london um i was like oh this is [0:40] real like i'm actually playing again and so for here it was more like okay i've been doing this [0:46] for a couple of weeks and so it was kind of like riding a bike and i didn't feel a ton of stuff yet [0:53] obviously when i play i might have a lot of things come up but yeah david oh that's serena um when [1:03] when did you decide i want to play singles what was that like um uh so i think it was on i had [1:19] until monday to decide and i think it was like sunday so because i just wasn't sure up until then [1:26] honestly i'm still not even sure but we'll see anticipate your feelings might be like um coming [1:40] on to the court for your first match and compared to other moments when you've come on to the court [1:46] for your first match at wimbledon whether it's as a defending champion or uh you've had every [1:53] experience here i think um my feelings would be different i think in general my expectations are [1:59] definitely different for the first time in my career um and i feel like my feelings are just [2:07] not that i never enjoyed it before because or else i wouldn't be here today but i feel like i'm [2:12] really um gonna have i'm gonna enjoy being out there just it serena uh did you follow thymus [2:23] during these years and uh if so which was the player male or female that you watched with uh most [2:31] pleasure who do you like now of the younger gangs that maybe weren't around when you were still on tour [2:38] um you know i am there's so many players that oh so first the first part of the question is yes [2:46] i did follow not every single match in every single tournament mostly just grand slams um seeing um [2:57] sabalinka just kind of do so well and so many of those grand slams has always been [3:03] really cool to watch her i love her intensity out there um but she was around when i was around so [3:09] that doesn't quite answer the question but um yeah so yeah i like and obviously watching coco [3:17] who wasn't super around but i love watching her yep so you just wondered if in the intervening years [3:26] you had time much time or inclination to look back at your career and think about particularly here [3:32] and what you and venus have achieved at wimbledon and what were the things that really most stood out [3:37] for you and mirandreva i like watching her a lot um i don't really look too much in the past of what [3:52] i've done you would never know that i was a professional athlete if you spent a day with me at home [3:58] my trophies are they're not hidden but they're in a room that's not crazy visible um so i don't know [4:08] like i never really think too much about what venus and i have done here and we do have memories [4:14] sometimes and i think most memories i've have are the last couple of weeks and just mostly um olympic [4:22] memories in particular i don't know why but yeah yeah hi serena um one of your more memorable matches [4:32] here certainly from a british point of view was when you um uh played heather watson on uh center court in [4:39] 2015 and had to dig deep with heather serving against you uh for the match um heather's still on the tour [4:49] she's coming back from injury she lost in qualifying um i was just wondering if you had any words of [4:57] advice for heather uh um attempts her own comeback and what your memories of that match yeah heather um [5:07] has always been such a strong athlete and strong player and smart player as well and i've always [5:14] loved seeing her on tour and her mom her mom's really nice um so i just think you know you just [5:21] don't give up if you really enjoy it just keep going and i'm always rooting for heather and so [5:26] and there's a lot of people out there that are too and you know it's no one can write your story she [5:33] can write her own story and yesterday i think i'm curious sort of about what you think of his kid is a [5:43] rough woman here last year he got hurt while he was beating center so what do you think of his [5:47] comeback and just sort of what their relationship like and what you what he means to see with the [5:50] stages of you um yeah i always call gregor my bestie um in which he's definitely my guy bestie [6:00] um but it was so good to see him i mean we we obviously communicate outside of grand slams but i [6:07] haven't seen him in a almost a year so um and you know just catching up and always have so many good [6:16] memories with gregor and he he gets my crazy and i i get his crazy and believe me he's way crazier than [6:23] i am um yeah so um but yeah he's he's just he's so good-hearted and good-natured and yeah it was [6:34] really tough to see that last year and he's had a tough year just dealing with that injury but you [6:39] you know you just gotta continue to fight and continue to come back ava hi serena venus yesterday [6:48] mentioned that you asked her before your first doubles match for a motivational quote or something [6:53] if she had anything that she had been saying to herself i'm not gonna ask you with the quote but um [6:57] i wonder i assume that you're already very motivated if you're out here and playing but what were you [7:03] looking for maybe in that moment why turn to venus rather than you've mentioned several other [7:08] friends and people you have in your circle who've kind of been motivating you and and yeah what did you [7:12] want to hear from her she thought way too much into that that was for my playing cards i don't know [7:22] if you guys saw on clean i posted my team through playing cards because i love i love marvel and i [7:28] love comics and everyone had a motivational quote on the card first match and uh yeah i didn't i don't [7:37] even think i focused or read it i just put it into ai and got a card so she read way too much into that [7:48] but don't tell her that uh serena you said you were kind of in two minds about singles i wondered if [7:56] you were nervous whether you expected to be nervous on tuesday and if so is that almost something that [8:02] you might have missed being nervous i i expect to be nervous i was also nervous every single match [8:08] that i've ever played in my life and i think that um showed the passion and the love and the care that [8:14] i cared about my job whether it was the first round or the second round or finals i've always had some [8:20] nerves but then i just dust them off and then you know i move on and so i definitely expect to have [8:27] those same feelings um you became famous over the years for your elaborate custom kits i'm curious [8:36] if playing fashion in that way still interests you and then secondly if you have any thoughts on some of [8:42] the blowback that naomi has received in recent months for bringing fashion onto um this was a game time [8:52] decision so uh fashion obviously means a lot to me but there's only so much you can do in such a quick [8:58] turnaround so um this wasn't planned again this was not like super planned out um and i love fashion i [9:07] love however you express yourself i think fashion is another way i think as tennis players it's hard for us to [9:12] to super express ourselves um in many different ways and so whatever way you can do that i i think [9:20] is cool hi serena um what do you know about um your opponent maya um closely now have you have you [9:31] watched her um videos to kind of get up to speed on on her game yeah actually um i know her i've watched [9:38] some of her videos and so she i'm sure she knows my game so yeah serena the first we sort of got wind [9:51] that you might be coming back was when you appeared in the anti-doping pool um whatever it was october [9:57] last year i wonder how having had four years outside of that protocol and then having spent the [10:01] last six seven months back in it i assume you haven't missed it how arduous is it going through that [10:06] stuff it's grueling they changed the rules now i didn't know some of the rules so apparently like if [10:12] you miss a test outside of your window it still counts as missed i'm like so i guess i can't go pick up my [10:18] kids it's it's unprofessional i think but i hate it i think it's necessary but i think that a lot of [10:27] this stuff is if i want to go places outside of my window i should be able to go without having to [10:33] count as a missed test so i think that there has to be a different way to make it reasonable because [10:45] that's just unreasonable um i that was a big reason why i didn't want to come back either because i just [10:52] it's just so hard to i mean my life is busy i run a company i run a vc company i travel the world [11:00] i um i have children so it's like i could be in so many different cities so many different times but [11:09] just getting that discipline of like reporting obviously i don't mind because i love and i always [11:15] have been very clear about what i do but just getting in that routine of like all right first of all [11:22] learning the new rules and then just like getting back and like reporting every day i guess now for [11:28] 24 hours where i'm going to be is just different at least for me i don't know if that works everyone [11:33] else it's mine given the uncertainty you described those singles decide that you couldn't miss playing [11:46] singles at wimbledon well i thought not every day wimbledon holds a wild card for someone and i [11:53] could not like to name my probably like a handful of people and happen to be one of those people and i [11:57] thought well i should really take this opportunity who knows if i'll ever make it here again this could [12:03] be it you know and so i was like what am i what what what's wrong with me serena what are you thinking [12:08] like are you are you nuts like you really should do this like and so that kind of was like you know [12:16] this people live to be an athlete and i have this great opportunity to showcase my what i do what i do [12:27] best i suppose and um yeah i think ultimately i was like that is pretty cool so i should do it i i never [12:40] thought i'd be back here sitting in front of this we all know how i feel about this so it was like i [12:47] never thought i would do this again and uh yeah all the above i i i when i re when i revolved or evolved [12:59] i was uh i had never thought i'd come back hi serena at queen's pre-tournament you said that [13:07] being back on court felt like riding your bike uphill now that you've played a few matches does [13:11] it feel a bit less steep now do you feel more comfortable for me the ride has always been uphill [13:18] yeah it's never there's only been a few times it's been downhill and those are fun times but it's always [13:24] and i think that's just in general like if you want to do something good or great you have to always [13:30] push yourself more even if it's easy you should take the uphill route and so yeah i still feel [13:36] like it's up here kristin from the danish tv so obviously caroline rosniaki is a big name in our [13:44] country she came back with kids and she's also around here i'm just wondering have you talked to [13:48] her about the do's and don'ts traveling playing tennis with the kids and and how will it be to play [13:53] at center court with especially your eight-year-old who understands what's going on right now i haven't [13:58] seen you in the prime yeah i talked to her all the time actually um but her kids were way younger [14:06] than mine i don't know how she did that hi serena um mira andreva was in here yesterday and she said [14:15] she was watching the draw behind her hands because she didn't want to draw you in the first round she [14:21] said trust me nobody nobody wanted to play serena in the first round how does it how does it feel [14:26] to still that the rest of the field still feels that way about you respectfully it's not surprising [14:35] simply because um i think anyone that's done or had you know it's like any other the big four coming [14:43] back no one would i mean novek's still here but no one would want to play them in their first round [14:48] like i can't think of anyone that would want to do that so um i just think that that's just an immense [14:54] amount of respect which yet another reason why i love her and um also just natural feelings like you [15:02] want to especially the grand slam you want to warm up you want to play someone you know [15:06] no one knows how my game may or may not have evolved what to expect don't know much so those type of [15:12] opponents are always very difficult to play um so i think that has also a lot of things to do with it [15:19] last question hello serena um i work for bbc i worked on your last ever wimbledon match you're a [15:28] legend and and you've you've already got a legacy you're back now um i'm approaching my 60th you're a [15:35] lot younger what message are you looking to imprint now that you don't think you've already done is there [15:42] anything new honestly i regrettably can't say that there is i wish i could i think that um that message [15:52] is going to be after everything i think there will be a message that i will think of and that [15:58] i will learn also and i can i can spread um but as of now i just think you know just have to [16:06] believe in yourself and go for any dream no matter how wild it may be it may seem yeah thank you very [16:17] very much thank you