What did the top WTA stars have to say before play began at the Volvo Car Open? Venus Williams, Lucie Safarova, Belinda Bencic, and Andrea Petkovic all held court during a two-day All-Access Hour…

Venus Williams

On being in Charleston without Serena…
As soon as I got here, I was sad because Serena wasn’t here. I’ve had a lot of great memories with her here, and we’ve had a lot of great times. There was one year where we played all the matches on Center, and if I played first, she played second and if I played third, she’d play fourth. I don’t think there’s ever been a day like that in tennis. So I was reminiscing about that too, and a lot of good memories. There aren’t a lot of tournaments left in the United States, so just taking advantage of playing at home a few times a year is a good feeling.

On a possible fifth Olympic appearance…
Is that five already? Oh lord! I mean, it’d mean everything to me. The Olympics has always meant so much and it’s just been a joy and an honor to be a part of it. It’s been just icing on the cake with a cherry on top to be able to bring home some medal some of the time for the States. I think it’ll be surreal, so long as I have the opportunity to go – and it’s looking good, so far – I think it’ll be very emotional for me this time.

On the equal prize money debate in tennis…
There’s always going to be people who don’t think that another person should be paid equally. I think it’s important for men to get on board, because these same men have daughters, wives, sisters, and they should want those same opportunities for those people in their families. They have women in their lives who are important to them and they need to realize that when they say these sorts of things that they are also saying these things about the women in their lives and they have to really come to grips with what that means.

At the end of the day, we’re all human. We really are. So can we just leave it at that? This is what I can’t understand, why mankind has to dominate each other. I thought we were a little bit further along, but in a lot of ways I’m happy it happened because it was a little bit of a wake up call for me to not sit still and it’s made me examine what I can do more across the board, not just for women’s tennis but for women around the world. The next step is to really get men involved; we’ve rallied, fought for the right things and we’ve got women behind us, but that’s the evolution that I see.

Political leaders, business leaders, sports leaders, all sorts of leaders, we have to get men as advocates and we have to change minds. This new generation of young boys coming up, we need to change their minds, and we need to also appeal to the current men in the world. That’s how I see the evolution happening, that we haven’t done enough work to change their minds and to help them see that this is their family that they’re voting against.

Lucie Safarova

On feeling more like her old self since injuries and illness disrupted her start to 2016…
Almost there. Yeah, I mean obviously the clay will be more physical, so it will be a good test for me. But in practices I’ve been feeling pretty good, yeah.

On how she spent the time away from the tour…
You know what, there’s always something positive out of the negative. I’m never able to spend enough time with my family, so I really enjoyed that time, spending time with my nieces and doing little silly things, playing little silly games where I obviously don’t have to move. And so yeah. I saw a lot of movies, read some books. It’s been like it gives you another point of view, and now looking back at it, it’s kind of opened up my mind more.

Belinda Bencic

On dealing with increased media attention…
I see it as a positive problem to have. It’s good because when you have the attention, it means you’re playing well. I think it’s part of the process and you need to learn it. From the juniors, I had some practice with press conferences, so it didn’t come all at once. It was just more, and more, and more. It’s what champions can handle, so I’m trying to do the same.

On what she enjoys doing off the court…
I love to read. I love reading. I actually like to take normal books with me on the tournaments; I don’t like the ebooks. I have two with me here this week. I love to read crime novels; sometimes it’s scary but it’s very interesting.

On the secret to her rapid rise up the rankings…
I wish I knew the secret, but it’s just hard work. I always believed in myself, but for sure I didn’t think it’d go so fast. I don’t look so far into the future, so I don’t have big expectations. For me, I’m happy about every win; I’m as excited as I was when I was No.200 in the world, so I don’t take it for granted. I want to stay in this mindset.

Andrea Petkovic

On her most vivid memory in Charleston…
When I won it, I had a superfan. She was there at every match and she was screaming so loudly after each and every point. Before the finals, I signed a ball for her and gave her tickets to the final. She was really nice and she cheered me on. We took a picture afterwards and that was very nice.

On how good friend Angelique Kerber has dealt with Grand Slam glory…
I think she’s handled it well. Of course, she had two tournaments where she didn’t play as well as she wanted. I was at Fed Cup and it was crazy. She had so many things to do and so many media requests, a lot of things outside the court going on that were probably new for her, so she had to adjust and learn to deal with new situations. I think she handled it really well; she only had a letdown for two tournaments and then played really well in Miami again. That’s pretty good, I think.

On being at a WTA-only tournament…
I always love this period of time because we have Charleston and Stuttgart. Those are both women’s only tournaments and the fans love them. They’re always sold out and two of the best tournaments in the whole season, no matter if it’s combined or not. They always have the best matches; a lot of the best matches that we’ve seen on either the men’s or women’s side, have happened in Charleston or Stuttgart. I think that’s the reason, because people just love watching us play and we always push harder. I think the performances speak for themselves; I don’t think we need to use a lot of words considering what a few guys have said in the past. I think we just speak for ourselves.

On whether she would recommend tennis as a career to a young person…
You have to be built for it, definitely. I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody. I think you have to have a certain kind of character, be very independent and be able to embrace the loneliness at times – not only on court but also off it because there are a lot of moments where you’re just alone in the hotel room. It sounds sad, but it’s not that sad! I think it’s just part of being a professional tennis player that isn’t sold on all of the commercials.