"I've never before or after faced a crowd that loud" - Serena Williams recalls French support for Julie Halard-Decugis before her maiden WTA title
Serena Williams recalled the loudest crowd she faced in her life during a recent appearance on 'Hot Ones'. During a Tier II WTA tournament in 1999 in Paris, France, Williams was shocked by the support received by Julie Halard-Decugis.
Host Sean Evans held a unique interview with the 23-time Grand Slam winner as she reminisced on the highlights of her career while indulging in chicken wings in increasingly spicy sauces.
Evans asked her how she remembers vivid moments from her career, some even over two decades old. He pinpointed the 1999 crowd at the Open Gaz de France in Paris in the quarterfinal. Williams claimed it was a huge memory for her because that was her maiden WTA Singles title and it was the loudest crowd she has faced in her life.
"That was such a big memory for me because first of all that was the first time I ever won in my life and that's always like a huge memory and second of all I've never before or after faced a crowd that loud in my life. They packed in so many people, all rooting for the French Julie I should say Julie Halard-Decugis," Williams said [at 2:00].
At the time, Williams was 17 and facing the seventh seed in the tournament. She mentioned how the crowd impacted her physically.
"But that was like how it was and it was crazy. I'll never forget that I could literally feel like my chest moving as like they were you know cheering 'Allez Allez Julie'. It was insane and they had a song and it was like a whole thing, it was crazy," she added.
Williams, however, overcame the home support and defeated Julie 6-2, 6-3 to advance into the semifinals.
Serena Williams was aided to her first WTA Singles title by Martina Hingis' absence
Serena Williams also opened up about how Martina Hingis dominated tournaments at the time. She claimed that she would not think of defeating her and would be happy if she saw that the Swiss was not playing a tournament she was in.
At the Open Gaz de France in 1999, top-seed Hingis was defeated in the quarterfinal by Amelie Mauresmo. Later, Mauresmo met Williams in the final and the American emerged as the winner.
During the same 'Hot Ones' episode Williams said:
"At the time, Martina Hingis was so good that I didn't really think about beating her... When she wasn't in a tournament I was probably happy that she wasn't there because she probably at that point maybe would have won, I don't know maybe not, but it was also good to just be able to win an event."
Eventually, Serena Williams caught up to Hingis when it came to their head-to-head record. In 13 encounters, the American emerged as the winner seven times.