Since I was young, the artistic expression that fashion embodies has inspired me. It's a way to communicate oneself.

I'm an afternoon tea type of girl. I come from a Russian background where we love our teas. So between lunch and dinner after training I come home and I love a nice cup of tea with jam in it, as we drink it there. Black English Breakfast with raspberry jam is my favorite.

I've been very competitive by nature from a young age, whether it was eating a bowl of pasta faster than somebody else, or always wanting to be the first one in line.

I owe a lot to my parents.

I don't spend a lot of my time in the locker room. That's my least favourite place in the world.

My main goal is to stay healthy because when you're injured you realise how lucky you are to have your health.

I'd love to open a tennis school for children in my hometown of Sochi.

Ever since I was young I loved making things and being part of the design process.

I'm just a very tough person when I go on the court, and I really don't want to lose.

I think when you know what you are going to wear, it fits and it's great material, then you feel confident in it.

When you're going through tough moments, you never know when you're going to have good moments.

To be honest, everything in my life outside of tennis is great. I'm doing amazing projects that, if I didn't have time off, I wouldn't be able to focus on.

I'd like to have a family.

I love where I'm from. I don't live there because of the circumstances, but all my family is there. It's what's inside, it's not what's outside that determines the culture and the feeling.

Sometimes when you're putting the work in it just seems so, so hard, and you never know when that work's going to pay off.

Music is a part of my life all the time - on the plane, before matches, driving out to the court.

If I loved a guy as much as I love my dog, the guy would be in serious trouble. Because I'm all over that dog, all the time.

Whenever I have friends over, we end up eating and talking and losing track of time, and, once in a while, singing karaoke. It reminds me of the family meals we had in Russia, which always lasted a very long time. That's a tradition I miss.

The more matches I play, the more confident I get.

If you're able to help some people and make them smile and make them realize that life is good, then that's worth so much more than buying a pair of shoes.

I want my tennis to speak for everything.

I'm just like every other girl who likes to shop, likes to look good, likes to spend time with friends.

I love to eat, and if I could, I'd eat every second of my life.

I love getting consumer reports. I think it's one of my favourite things, studying what people have to say about the product and then trying to make it better.

I love jotting down ideas for my blog, so I doodle or take notes on all kinds of stuff that inspires me: the people I meet, boutiques I visit, a florist that just gave me a great idea for an interior-design project, things like that.

I don't need many things. I don't need glamour and attention to be happy. I'm very happy being settled and working my butt off and trying to win grand slams.

It's strange for my friends when they see me on TV and in magazines, because the person that they see doing interviews and pictures on the red carpet is not the person that they know.

When I travel, I love speaking to women around the world about the things that inspire them, the fashions they like, what makes something good and what would make it even better.

I learned there's a big difference between juniors and the pros.

When I walk through that gate to the court, that's my escape. I block out everything, good and bad.

There are so many roads you can take that will lead you the wrong way, that nobody will hear your name.

When I'm down or maybe when it's close in the match, I feel like I'm still in it. I don't feel like I'm letting down. Mentally, I'm still really, really tough.

I love yoga. I do yoga when I have time, which is not very often.

I've been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience.

I don't follow other players or the tournaments they play. I have my own schedule and do my own thing. I never really think, 'Oh, I want to be or play like so-and-so.' I just like being myself.

Sometimes I feel my arm is like a swan's neck - so weak.

There are days when I go out on the court and I feel like I can't miss a ball.

You have your bad moments in your career and your good moments. And it's been a good ride so far, but it's not over yet.

As an individual, I take every match seriously, no matter who I'm going to play.

I look forward to the challenges.

The forehands or backhands don't mean much after three hours.

I'm an athlete. I go out there and fight my heart out.

My parents had a normal life in Russia and they could have easily kept living a normal life, working and raising a child in Russia.

I love competing.

I heard endless conversations between my parents when I was going to sleep about how we would survive, how we would continue. All of them were about trying to make me better.

You control your own wins and losses.

I definitely feel Russian inside, even when I'm in America I feel Russian.

I try not to hit a swing volley and run back. So my swing volley is kind of that transition to the net. It's been one of my favorite shots ever since I was young.

I'm not a huge gym person, so I try to stay away from the gym. But I love to run on the beach or go for a walk. It's better than riding a stationary bike.

I love playing for my country, getting the support. Especially for the kids and everybody, showing my example of what I can achieve so early. And maybe they can achieve it, too, just to get that in their minds.