“We can’t play if we are ill or not completely fit.”

I prepare the same for every opponent.

Talking about world-class player, no player is easy to play at this level. Each player has a different style of play.

I have been playing with boys, which is helpful for me.

Fitness is the key. You need to have strokes and stamina and agility; you need to exercise really well. On-court and off-court are equally important.

Tennis, at times, I follow, but not much.

One tournament win doesn’t make you perfect.

The key is not being overconfident. You should not think that because I’m a top-ranked player, I will win this game. You have to be focused.

I have to keep moving and keep working hard.

Life has changed after Rio. Winning a silver medal was a huge moment for me. It has come with a lot of responsibilities.

I train for six days in a week for eight to ten hours of practice per day.

When you lose, you keep thinking, ‘I could have done things differently,’ but at that moment, you can’t do anything, so it is important to let go.

While I am training, I don’t go out for events, so rest days, in a way, take away that time. Apart from that, I just stay at home and rest, maybe relax at home and spend time with family.

In my early years, I would travel 56 km. from home to the training institute and back every single day.

Whoever plays well on a given day, that player wins.

I was 18 when I was presented with the Arjuna Award. To say it feels really good would be an understatement. But I don’t know how else to convey the feeling. I am grateful for having received this prestigious award at such a young age.

Sometimes you don’t play up to the mark, and you win even then.

Movies are the work of a collective conscious. It takes 500-800 people on a movie to complete a vision.

I always try to do something for my husband that’s completely selfless, and something that I hope will rock his world in some form or fashion.

Man, one may say, was never in such a completely animal condition; but he has, on the other hand, never escaped from it.

The Moor has done his work, the Moor may go.

I was an insecure kid. Once I saw ‘Hercules’ with Steve Reeves, it completely changed my life. If I had never gone to that film, I wouldn’t be here today.

My mind is constantly in five different places, but golf is great because it forces you to focus completely and purely on what you’re doing.

I’m not good at future planning. I don’t plan at all. I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow. I don’t have a day planner and I don’t have a diary. I completely live in the now, not in the past, not in the future.

Democracy is in the blood of Musalmans, who look upon complete equality of manhood [mankind] and believe in fraternity, equality and liberty.