Serena advances when Vika retires, continues 'war of words' with A-Rod

The "war of words" between Serena Williams + Andy Roddick continued to gather steam in Melbourne today.

A concerned ReRe advanced to the quarterfinals in Melbourne when her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, retired from their match citing illness after looking wobbly and near-faint towards the end of their fourth rounder (kinda scary, actually.) The 3-time champ was down and set but up a break in the second when Vika called it quits; she'll face Svetlana Kuznetsova for a semifinal spot.


In her post-match presser, talk turned back to her defeat of A-Rod in '93:

Q. Obviously good early on beating Andy Roddick when he was 10 years old. Any hopes of a charity rematch?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't think it's necessary to have a rematch. You know, I won. I was clearly the better player. I beat Roddick, you know. Andy Roddick, yeah (smiling). There's really no need to have a rematch. It's unimportant [sic] now.

Q. The score speaks for itself. What was the score?
SERENA WILLIAMS: 6‑1. The score absolutely speaks for itself. He always jokes, Rematch, rematch. But I don't even have time for a rematch (smiling).

Q. What was Andy like as a 10‑year‑old kid? Was he a brat or a good kid?
SERENA WILLIAMS: You know, he was a sweetheart. He was so sweet and he was so small. His older brother played really good tennis, John Roddick. He was always John Roddick's younger brother. I was kind of Venus' younger sister. I just remember he was a really sweet kid. You know, he could never really beat me (laughter).

Q. If you don't want to play Andy in a charity match, maybe a dump‑truck‑pressing contest?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Pardon?

Q. Did you hear about the dump‑truck‑pressing comment he made?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Andy's always exaggerating. I was so small for my age. He was small, too. But he just got jealous because my body was more fit and that my biceps are probably still bigger than his (laughter). Andy is incredibly jealous of me. You know, I just don't know why. I can't blame him really (smiling).

Q. His exact comment was that, at the time he had to run around in the shower to get wet while you were bench pressing dump trucks.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Again, I'll have to talk to him, because he clearly didn't have to run around. He wasn't that thin. Andy's a fit guy. Like I said, he was always trying to get muscles like mine, get more developed. I guess it still hasn't happened yet (laughter).

Q. Andy Roddick has been in the top 10 for seven straight years. I know you can appreciate that consistency. Can you talk about him as a competitor.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, he's clearly a great competitor. You know, Andy influenced me. I think a couple years ago he wasn't playing his best tennis. The guy never gave up. He was at every event, playing every tournament. He never lost confidence. That actually motivated me at that point to do well. I was able to win some tournaments after watching his spirit and competitiveness. I never told him that, but he definitely did influence me to do better and to work harder. So I think he's a great competitor. Too bad he can't beat some women players, but nonetheless he's pretty good (smiling).

Damn - I'd kill to be a fly on the wall of ReRe's post-match pressers. Pure entertainment.

But kudos to her for showing real concern and class where Vika was concerned.

(images via AP)