Before at the WTA Premier Five tournament in Toronto, Serena Williams took the time to mingle with the media (and Caroline Wozniacki) at the All Access Hour of the Rogers Cup. Here is a transcript of what she said.

Q (from Caroline Wozniacki): So Serena what were you up to last night?

A: I was with you last night! We were just at the Japanese restaurant, just gossiping and talking right?

Q (from Caroline Wozniacki): Yes. Obviously you know I am the coolest person you know, so why is that?

A: Because we’re just alike Caroline, we’re just alike.

Q (from Caroline Wozniacki): Ok I’ll stop with the silly questions.

Q: Is she allowed to tease you like that?

A: She always teases me.

Q: Can you just talk about the friendship that you guys obviously have and how great that is to have a friend on Tour? How important is that for you to kind of to get away from the tennis and relate with somebody that does the same thing as you and have that common bond?

A: It’s really great you know. We just get along excellent. It’s hard when you’re on tour and you get to know everyone and it’s just like you know you have friends and then you have competitors and you know everyone for the most part is just on tour for 12, 11 months out of the year so it’s really cool to have someone that can relate with you and understand everything that you go through.

Q: Is there a specific moment that you know kind of started the friendship between you two?

A: No, no, I mean maybe when she was just a baby, we played an exo in Barbados but that was I don’t know how many years ago, 8 or 9 years ago, and it we’ve been friends ever since.  

Q: Serena with the wins piling up and as you go along have you reached a point yet where you start to think about what your legacy will be or what you want it to be?

A: Um yeah, I mean my legacy I always have hoped would be, you know, just someone that was the best that I could be on the court but also the things I’ve done off the court and the different charities that I’ve done and I’ve been involved in so I think for me an being an opportunity to be a good player has been able to help me, been able to help other people too and so I think for me that’s really, really important.

Q: Serena it’s your first tournament this time of year with three Grand Slams behind you, does it feel any different heading into the Open? More pressure, less? More confidence?

A: Yeah uh, it definitely feels different I guess cause I’ve never been in this position in my career. So, but, I just feel like winning the Serena Slam this year, I don’t know, for me it just felt like it took some pressure off because I was able to win four in-a-row and I wasn’t sure I was able to do that again so I feel like you know I can continue - hopefully I can continue - but it took a lot of that off.

Q: Can you give us an update on the right elbow that kept you out of Stanford? Are you know are you 100% going into the Rogers Cup this year?

A: It’s ok. I’m literally going day by day and hopefully it will continue to get better. Just taking it a step at a time.

Q: How long have you been practicing at full tilt coming into Toronto?

A: Um, full tilt, about just probably right when Stanford started. Just trying to get a little more stronger and I wasn’t able to be able to play that tournament - it just wouldn’t have been ready. So we’ll see, hopefully I’ll be able to do well here and hopefully everything will hold up.

Q: So Serena we hear a lot of talk about the Serena Slam but at this point in the season how much are you thinking ahead to the U. S. Open and how much is your attention focused on what’s right in front of you?

A: Well I’m not thinking ahead to the Open right now because I’m right here in Toronto and I haven’t really played on a hard court, match in a while. So I’m thinking - ok I want to get some of this under my belt. And you know, the Open will happen when the Open happens, and I think that’s in about three weeks so you know for me it’s really important to stay in the moment and stay focused and that’s what I’ve always done.

Q: I saw you practicing earlier this morning, how do you feel on the hard courts, just getting out there and feeling the surface and everything?

A: I feel good you know, I definitely feel good on it. This surface I think is slower than other hard courts maybe and the ball bounces higher.

Q: Slower than like, the U. S. Open?

A: Yes, so that actually gives me a better chance to adapt. So it works out well.

Q: And how are you liking coming back to Toronto? You’ve had success the last two times the tournament has been in Toronto. Is it nice to be back in this city?

A: Um yeah it’s great, I’ve had a lot of success here. I think mainly cause I don’t want to leave and I’m like - if I lose then I have to leave -  so…I’m like ok, the only thing I know how to do is to win so that I can stay. But yeah, that kind of sums up how much I love this city. Like I never want to leave and I was here last year and this year so, I always have fun here. I seem to always come here.

Q: Is there anything in specific about Toronto or playing in Canada that you particularly enjoy and do you there’s a difference between Canadian tennis fans and fans elsewhere?

A: Well I think, playing in Toronto is…wait you asked me if there’s something I like in Toronto?

Q: Specifically, you say you love coming to Toronto - what is it about the city that you like?

A: Yeah I like the city, I like the restaurants, I like the style, I like the culture, I think it’s like a really cool city. The fans are, I don’t know if they’re different they’re very, very awesome and they’re also really intense which is a great thing, so I feel is the perfect mix.

Q: Serena it’s been a lot of years since very young players like yourself are winning Grand Slams. Is that because you’ve been so dominant or because the sport has changed so dramatically and gotten so much more physical that it takes so much longer for a player to grow into their body and also their maturity?

A: That’s a really good question, I never thought about that. Because if you think about it I’m playing and you know, it was Henin and Clijsters and other players who were winning Grand Slams and we all are a little older and so we maybe we had some more experience to take out the younger players? I don’t know that’s a really good – not just me though, cause I definitely didn’t win all the Grand Slams in the past ten years, Lord knows that – but I’m just saying that actually could be a really good analogy that the players are just stronger and more mentally tough and probably just want to keep winning.

Q: Just to follow that up in terms of longevity how do you account for the fact that you are playing at this very, very high level after all of these years? Is it partly because you’ve had so many diverse interests outside of the sport that you haven’t just had that sort of narrow focus? Do you think that has contributed too?

A: Yeah I feel that I’ve had a lot of different interests outside of the sport, I feel like, you know, I haven’t quite burned myself out. I feel like most of all that every year that goes by I start to love the game more than the previous year and that’s rare you know, so, sometimes when I step out onto that court, mainly especially for matches I just really feel this really incredible like joy and appreciation of being out there and like you know, wow I’m living my dream you know?

Q: I do know, because I think a lot of athletes I’ve covered, the second half of their careers they’ve enjoyed more than the first half because there’s so much pressure on them in the first half and they’ve got to win and there’s ups and downs and you learn from the downs and celebrate the ups but when you have the years behind you, yeah I get you completely. Does that apply to you?

A: Definitely, definitely how it feels. It feels like you know, yeah you have ups and downs and but you learn from that and in the future you just you are able not to make the same mistakes or not have the same pressures and then you almost feel a little more free because it’s like you don’t have to prove anything, so I think that plays a lot into it.

Q: Do you think to some degree you’ve also, and Venus as well, when people used to say you don’t play enough early in your career that you’ve set a new paradigm that you don’t have to play and play and play until you burn out and your career can last longer if you kind of pick your spots along the way.

A: Yeah I think that works for us and you know I really feel like if I had played a lot more tournaments I would be a little more tired but I’ve never been one to play twenty some-odd tournaments a year, you know I’m always in the teens and that actually is high for me and I just, you know, just focus on those and do the best I can in those tournaments. I kind of like pick my spots and then I go from there.

Q: Serena because you’ve been so dominant this year I’m just wondering when you’re on the court against certain opponents are you kind of noticing anything with their games or I guess more from a mental aspect because you’ve had the success that you’ve had, are you noticing anything from your opponents?

A: I feel like every opponent I’ve played has played me really, really hard. I’ve won a lot of matches this year but I’ve also gone a lot of three sets this year so I think these ladies are going as hard as they can and doing the best that they can and every time I go out there I have to really show up and play my A game.

Q: You said you’re getting to a lot of three sets, noticing that they are getting closer, do you have to be on your game to knock these people off?

A: Yeah I think every time I step on the court I really have to be on it or I have to be ready to leave not winning.

Q: Later this week, Justine Henin is being inducted into the Hall of Fame here. I’m just wondering, looking back at the time that you were playing her, like earlier on, has the women’s game changed a little bit since then because she had a different style because she was a little smaller, kind of was more versatile, she would run up to the net and she used her speed. Is the game more about power these days do you think?

A: No I think there’s a lot of versatile players out there. Some power players some really, really, really, really tall players and smaller players so I think it’s a really good mix of pretty much everything.