Williams on return to ASB Classic for first time since pregnancy: "This is kind of where it all began"

Williams spoke about how it has come almost full circle since she was last in New Zealand and said that she is 'excited' to be in the country playing before the season begins.

"I'm in a really different frame of mind," she said. "It's just so surreal and so crazy, looking back - I have all of these funny memories of me just being miserable in the first trimester of pregnancy, being six weeks pregnant and not knowing...so now, we joke about it and I'm so happy to be here."

"I always knew that I would have to come back [to Auckland], for sure," she said. "I didn't even realize what was happening, and now I'm here with my daughter. This is kind of where it all began. It's amazing. It's so exciting to be here with her, and to know that this is literally where it started."

Williams will take on Svetlana Kuznetsova, a fellow Grand Slam champion and one who she will renew hostilities with. For the 23-time champion though, she is a close friend and one who she wishes she would have faced later in the tournament.

"First of all, she's a really good friend of mine, and second of all, she's a really great player," Williams said of the Russian. "It's good. I like to play really tough opponents in the first round, and there's no better way to start than to start serious. I really love her and adore her, and I wish it could've been a little bit later, for both of us."

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