Serena dedicates win to her murdered half-sister
Q. You talked about your focus. How much of that focus came from the memory of your sister?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Uhm, you know, she was ‑‑ every day I write notes, you know, from my match. Not every day, but every match I wrote notes. Today my note was just Yetunde. That was all my notes. That’s it.
Usually I write, Look at the ball, move forward, do this, do that. Today I just had one word. You know, every changeover I looked at it and I just thought about how happy she would have been, you know, how much she always supported me.
I just thought about what an amazing sister she was to me. I just said, Serena, this has to be motivating. This has to be more than enough to motivate me, and I think it was.
Q. How long can you carry that through your career?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I mean, I just think it’s obviously long‑term. She’s gone forever. I just ‑‑ that’s not the only thing I get power from. Like I said, I prayed ‑ not to win. I never pray to win; I just pray to be strong, just help me there. I just think I derive a lot of power just from my heart.
I don’t know.
Q. You mentioned before you used to speak after matches. There was a nice line about when you spoke to her after the French Open, when you had beaten somebody.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I beat this girl. I don’t remember, it was a long time ago at the French Open. She said, Wow, Serena, you played so well. You beat her like she stole something. I was just laughing because I had never heard that expression before. I was just laughing so hard.
I have so many good memories of my sister. Obviously, she was ‑‑ I remember just so many, so many things from her. That’s just one of the things that stick out. She was always so happy for me and Venus. She would come travel with us with her kids sometimes. You know, we had so many unbelievable memories. I take solace in those memories.
Q. Do you remember who you beat so heavily that time?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don’t remember that. I just remember calling her. She was so happy. She was obviously proud. You know, she was an awesome sister. She’s the best. Australian Open