Venus Williams
I've been very focused on my career outside of tennis.
I'm a collaborator. I know I don't know everything. I don't want to know everything.
Retiring is the easy way out.
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 try to invest smart. I'm not a baller. I'm not a blinger.
For me, being part of the WTA tour is a privilege. Every day I wake up, it's a privilege to be able to go outside and do what I love. It's a privilege to be able to make my own hours, even though they're long, but I make them.
Growing up, I'd just be at home, playing tennis, spending my allowance on an ice-cream truck.
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 was a teenager with braces and into sporty dresses with bright colors and cut-outs. For awhile, I really experimented with what I wanted to do. Some really extreme things, I recall.
I believe that athletes - especially female athletes in the world's leading sport for women - should serve as role models.
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.
Just believe in yourself. Even if you don't, pretend that you do and, at some point, you will.Collection: Confidence
My motto is: I'm alive, so that means I can do anything.Collection: Mean
So what if you fail? At least you'll know what not to do when you try again.Collection: Basketball
It's easy to stand back, but to move forward and take a chance, that takes a little more guts, a little more courage.Collection: Moving
In my mind, I'm always the best. If I walk out on the court (and) I think the next person is better, I've already lost.Collection: Thinking
If I cared deeply about what people thought of me, I probably would have never made it out of Compton, California.Collection: California
It's amazing when tragedy strikes, how strong you find that you are, and I'd seen other people go through horrible things. And I just thought, "Wow, I would be a complete mess," and then suddenly when it happens, you realize you had more strength than you knew and it helps you to get through.Collection: Strong
The naysayers, they don't mean a thing.Collection: Mean
I am someone who likes to stay positive.Collection: Stay Positive
Everybody's got their problems. The important thing is not to complain about it.Collection: Important
Workout. Lead a balanced life and try to have fun. It's what you make it.Collection: Workout
When you step out on the court, I don't think anybody thinks about age. Because if you're out on this tour it means you deserve to be here. You've got the skill. It must mean you know how to play.Collection: Mean
Chiropractic gives me the flexibility I need to keep in the game.Collection: Games
If Id lived prior to the 1980s, it would have been different, because I would have been playing to prove African Americans are equal. Now, I dont necessarily feel I have to play for black people, because obviously theyre doing everything in all sports. If I can go out there and play for myself and not feel I have to stand for something other than what I want to do, thats good.Collection: Sports
I feel a little more tired than usual, ... Ive had to recover from everything, my illnesses and things this summer. Its not perfect circumstances, but Im definitely going to be out there and hopefully have my letdown after the Open ... I think Ill go in mentally a lot better. When it comes down to it I dont think anyone really wants to play me because I have a lot of weapons and not a ton of weaknesses. My main weakness would probably be an occasional self-destruction mode. So Ill try not to touch that red button accidentally.Collection: Summer
I think that Billie (Jean King) and Zina (Garrison), they have a whole lot of experience. Even if I don't quite agree with something or have a different way of doing it this week, whatever they said, I did it right away and I found out that it was correct. I think that's helped a lot...I'm having fun. I had a lot of fun out there. Sometimes I was ready to smile -- but I knew I'd lose focus -- because I was doing things that I'd done in practice and we talked about. I was ready to laugh and give someone a high-five, but it wasn't time for that.Collection: Kings
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 satellite tournaments here there and everywhere, I don't have to win at all. Although I do want to.Collection: Winning
Well, when I walk behind short people I feel like I'm going to fall over because I start taking these little steps, and I can't take little steps.Collection: Fall
Tennis is a huge part of my life, but I don't base my self-value or my self-worth or the quality of my life on my results on the court.Collection: Self Worth
We're breaking records and we're moving forward. I always expected to win Grand Slams. This was meant to be.Collection: Moving
There is nothing like playing at Wimbledon; you can feel the footprints of the legends of the game-men and women-that have graced those courts.Collection: Men
As long as we're fit, we just have so much to give on the court.Collection: Long
I love to be busy, and when I'm off the court, I do things I love.Collection: Things I Love
To be a well-rounded person and know what's going on in the world around you, to have a perspective outside of your sport, is important for every athlete. I'm blessed that our parents gave us that.Collection: Sports
I don't want to give anyone an edge in my mind. Every time I walk out on the court, I have to feel I'm the best so I can compete well. A lot of times, my chief rival is just me.Collection: Softball
I guess it's a little bit sentimental, but at the time I was really very focused in on really my performance. Afterward, it was really just a breath of fresh air, just like, 'Oh, yes, I'm back now. I'm doing good.'Collection: Air
When youre on top, youre on top.Collection: Sports
The outfit is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It's kind of about a surprise, because when Alice goes down the rabbit hole, she finds all these things that are so surprising. This outfit is about having a surprise in a tennis dress, and showing some skin and then just having a print. Prints don't happen that often in tennis. So it's called the Wonderland dress.Collection: Tennis
Anything which draws attention to me because I am so attractive.Collection: Attention
I will always be the older sister. That's never going to change.Collection: Older Sister
People ask me where I get my fighting qualities from, and I have to say Serena.Collection: Fighting
We've been training and playing full-time since we were 18 and 19. So after tennis, we'll be excited to see what it's like to have more free time.Collection: Tennis
We're all conditioned that we shouldn't like our brothers and sisters, that we should be angry and fight. But that's abnormal. A lot of people think that the way Serena and I are with one another is weird. It's not.Collection: Brother
I remember watching the Olympics at home as a kid. It was one my Dad's dreams to win an Olympic medal.Collection: Dream
Serena and I, we don't have anything to prove ... we still set a very high standard.Collection: High Standards
I can walk around fine, but I don't have a desk job.Collection: Jobs
I think if you have the opportunity to bully your opponent then you have to take that chance.Collection: Opportunity
I have to say accounting almost killed me.Collection: Accounting