Maria Sharapova
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.
When I walk through that gate to the court, that's my escape. I block out everything, good and bad.
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.
I still love things that you don't even need to pay for. Going to the beach and being around five of your friends and having a good time means so much more than going out and spending hundreds of dollars.
I'd love to open a tennis school for children in my hometown of Sochi.
When you are young, you are a little naive.
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.
If I can create something that allows a woman to feel better - that is the true reward.
Since I was young, the artistic expression that fashion embodies has inspired me. It's a way to communicate oneself.
I'm focused on going out every day and doing my best.
I'm always on the go. I love doing things until I hit rock bottom. Then I need my 12 hours of sleep, and I'm on the go again.
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.
When I need to push myself, I think of all those nicely polished trophies waiting to be lifted up by the winner - and how that winner might be me.
If I'm nervous, it means I had to work hard to get there, whether it's playing in a tournament or speaking at an event. So I try to stop and be proud of getting to live in that moment.
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.
I never really had an idol.
I love to eat, and if I could, I'd eat every second of my life.
When I make a commitment I stick to it.
There's not many firsts in my career, as I have been a part of many tournaments and fortunate enough to win many.
I always have a Sharpie, because usually when someone asks me for an autograph, they don't have a pen. I carry one in my purse, as well as in my tennis bag.
Since I'm constantly in the sun, I use sunscreen daily.
I think when you know what you are going to wear, it fits and it's great material, then you feel confident in it.
I love street style, seeing how girls wear pieces and how their pair accessories with their outfit. How they pair shoes with a bag and go to day to night and change things up.
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 don't get to do as much sightseeing as I would like to.
I go to yoga classes and work on my core.
I love what I do and I love being an athlete, but I also love all the things that have come with it.
My family and I built my whole career from scratch.
I spent a whole year when I was injured just trying to get my arm back to the point where I could hit a tennis ball for more than 30 minutes a day. I'd hit for 15 minutes and it would feel as if my arm was going to fall off.
I hit a ball for a living, but I have that passion to keep learning.
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.
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.
I want my tennis to speak for everything.
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 don't spend a lot of my time in the locker room. That's my least favourite place in the world.
I find a lot of inspiration in street style and watching women walk, the way they wear things and what they're wearing.
Tennis has given me this wonderful life and I'm very grateful for it.
I have had lots of luck in my career but there has also been a lot of hard work.
My main goal is to stay healthy because when you're injured you realise how lucky you are to have your health.
Through my travels, I find inspiration in street style and how young women create their individual looks and identity.
Whether you win a match or lose a match, in terms of your emotions, it's important to be pretty levelheaded.
After being on the court for six hours, being on TV is very glamorous and fun for me. But tennis is always going to be my priority. It's not going to be this thing when all of a sudden TV will get in the way of that.
I'm always that annoying person that pulls out the camera in the middle of dinner and starts taking candids.
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.
There are so many roads you can take that will lead you the wrong way, that nobody will hear your name.
Of course, everyone knows my story of being born in Russia and moving to the United States at 7. For a few years people would say, 'Well, she's living in the United States, but she's Russian.'
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.
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.
If everything was going smoothly you would never build character.Collection: Character