Venus Williams
The first rounds of a tournament are always tricky because playing tennis takes a lot out of you.
You win with your feet. It looks easy, and it's not.
The most challenging thing is people do see me as a tennis player, but I've had a lot of opportunities because I am a tennis player. And I don't mind that.
After almost 30 years of playing this sport, I've learned something. I've learned that, no matter what happens, or happened... or where you are, or where you've been... at the end of the day: tennis is tennis. It's always, always tennis. And there's nothing better.
I spent my whole life playing sports and training and pushing myself to the limits.
When you get told that you have a disease, it's like: 'Really? Nah, it's all right. I don't believe that. It must be something else, I'm just making an excuse, let me push harder.'
I don't come to tournaments to make friends, to go to parties, to hold conversations. I come to be the best, and I'm not mean and cruel and dirty.
If you look at me, I'm very tall but I'm not huge or muscular. I tend to be slim and you know, I actually can lose weight quicker than I can gain it.
As far as everyone else's opinion, I mean, if I would have thought that everyone was right, I probably wouldn't have left Compton, so I don't get too caught up on what the next person thinks.
I think I've been fortunate to be at the top of the game and in the media for years, and a lot of times, people want to be your friend when you're on the top. You know, there have been times when I've been injured and I never got a phone call. So that's the way it is.
Grand Slam losses are hard. I treat myself after losses though, I usually go to McDonald's and I have a hamburger and you know, something. Because you know, you just need to be nice to yourself sometimes after the loss.
Losses have propelled me to even bigger places, so I understand the importance of losing. You can never get complacent because a loss is always around the corner. It's in any game that you're in - a business game or whatever - you can't get complacent.
For years I felt that I didn't have enough stamina and then, four years ago, I felt like I was not getting enough air but I was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. The medicine for asthma never worked.
Right now, I'm at the top of the world in my game so my focus isn't on when I'm going to end. My focus is on playing the best tennis that I can, and there is no end to that.
It's what I've trained for, from the first sketch to the fabric. Making dresses that are different from the usual style, and a lot of fun to wear.
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.
'Oh and Oh' is a tennis term... It's a nice way of saying you took your opponent to pieces.
I'm only seeing tennis balls these days. And maybe the occasional fashion sketch.
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 say accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. If you don't accessorize, someone else will.
I'm not a trend person. I don't want to look to my right and see somebody in the same thing.
I don't carry a purse when I fly because I have my Hello Kitty carry-on. I'm the biggest adult supporter.
I wear a lot of tight dresses, so I'm like, 'I need to do my sit-ups!'
Serena and I have done some great career planning, and we're playing really at the peak of our tennis right now. I think tennis has been a sport where people play this insane schedule from 14 years old, so of course at 26, it's over. We've really paced ourselves.
No TV, no acting for me. I'm kind of a more behind-the-scenes kind of woman even though what I do is very public. I'm really low-key and I don't need to be the center of attention.
If I don't wear something I feel confident in, I don't play as well.
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.
Everything is tennis for me, it's my career and it's entertainment, but it's also a business.
A lot of times when you play... you get this adrenalin that blocks pain.
Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the clearer my game becomes to me.
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 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 know it's not the most important thing for me to win the most Grand Slams and be remembered in this world. I certainly don't have to win little tournaments here, there and everywhere, I don't have to win at all. Although I do want to.
If I didn't play tennis I don't know where I'd be.
I guess tennis is my main art, but fashion is definitely very close.
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.
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'm always on the court with my dad.
I contribute my best in my sport and I also have a ton of respect for myself and my family.
You have to stay on top and learn from mistakes.
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.
My motto has always been that you can't say, 'Oh, it won't happen to me.' You have to say, 'That can happen to me.' So always be aware that things can happen.
Like anyone else, I enjoy my days off.
It's such an honor to do this job because I love it. And I get to work outside, and what can beat that?
The first time you win, nobody picks you; the last time you win, nobody picks you. You've just got to pick yourself.
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 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 don't go to the gym for a week, I just get thinner and thinner.
I don't snack a lot, because I didn't grow up snacking.