Of course I want to look well and fit - and as an athlete, I want to look strong.

I always thought of it like, 'What can my body do for me?' and not, 'How do I look?'

I've always been happy with my body.

When I play my match, I can't think about anything else except what I'm doing on my side of the net.

When you start playing tennis, you don't imagine there's a whole bureaucracy behind the tournaments and all of that. You just think about winning the cups.

The message I like to convey to women and girls across the globe is that there is no glass ceiling.

I believe that athletes - especially female athletes in the world's leading sport for women - should serve as role models.

When you are in the public eye, you have to protect yourself. There are so many people judging you. I just try to be myself.

Equality for men and women, across the world, not only in sports, is the goal. We obviously have a long way to go, but every little bit helps.

My mom didn't want us to go to the candy house, she didn't want us to go to the ice cream truck, she didn't want us to go to the... There was actually a donut truck, if that makes sense.

I love playing the game. I always have. Of course, winning matches makes it much sweeter. The wins and the losses always lead to these big moments, unless you're Serena Williams.

I don't have time for easy. Tennis is just hard.

Retiring is the easy way out.

I've gone to school for business, for design, for architecture.

Tennis has been around for so long - women have been playing the majors since the 1800s. Other sports have not had professional leagues for women for as long.

I think women athletes who have been successful need to help other sports, those sports that are just emerging. That's what I've been thinking about and looking forward to.

I don't snack a lot, because I didn't grow up snacking.

Sometimes women who are taller aren't comfortable with it, but I love being tall.

If I don't go to the gym for a week, I just get thinner and thinner.

I think there's a connection with what you wear. If you don't feel good about what you're wearing, you aren't going to feel confident, and you aren't going to be able to concentrate.

If I have to work hard or think hard or just copy somebody else that's doing it better - whatever it takes, I'm going to find that solution. That's the drive that keeps me going.

I don't think anyone feels older. You have this infinity inside you that feels like it could go on forever.

The first time you win, nobody picks you; the last time you win, nobody picks you. You've just got to pick yourself.

It's such an honor to do this job because I love it. And I get to work outside, and what can beat that?

Like anyone else, I enjoy my days off.

I think nowadays it's so easy as an athlete to become a statistic whether or not you lose everything or having trouble or whatever it may be.

I love design.

I contribute my best in my sport and I also have a ton of respect for myself and my family.

I'm always on the court with my dad.

The thing is, it's not good anyway for eight-year-olds to be out there playing tennis tournaments so soon in their lives. But when I did get to play in a tournament, when I was nine, I was overjoyed.

I don't have time to be negative.

Life is challenging but I'm always up for a challenge.

I just try to stay positive and focused on the tennis, not let anything get to me, like crazy questions. But I'm tough, let me tell you, tough as nails.

I guess tennis is my main art, but fashion is definitely very close.

If I didn't play tennis I don't know where I'd be.

My ambition is to enjoy my life and to do exactly what I want to do. And I'll do that. I will be free.

I guess some kids around me had to grow up quickly, had all those problems. But I wasn't one of those kids, or around those kids, not at all.

I knew my destiny was to be in the winner's circle. There were times along the way where I didn't make it there. But I felt my destiny was definitely to win big titles, win lots of titles.

I think I can change the game.

Everything is tennis for me, it's my career and it's entertainment, but it's also a business.

My goal is always the same: to keep the other player from ever scoring a point. That doesn't always happen, but that's what I try for.

To stay interested in tennis, I have to mix it up with other things.

If I don't wear something I feel confident in, I don't play as well.

I wear a lot of tight dresses, so I'm like, 'I need to do my sit-ups!'

I say accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. If you don't accessorize, someone else will.

Since I started playing at the Olympics in 2000, I have always wanted to do a dress based on Wonder Woman. It should be interesting to wear. And hopefully, it will get me a gold medal.

I'm only seeing tennis balls these days. And maybe the occasional fashion sketch.

'Oh and Oh' is a tennis term... It's a nice way of saying you took your opponent to pieces.

My dresses are designed to win, so going through it, I think about, what do I want to represent? So, definitely, Vera Wang has been an inspiration for me.

All those lessons that I've learned on the court, I have applied them to my life outside of the court in business, my company, called V Starr interiors, an interior design company, and EleVen, which I wear on court.