“Maybe if I was British, a semi-final would be incredible. I’d be on the front page of the paper.”

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

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 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.

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

It’ll be great. Of course I was disappointed last year. But I’ll get my revenge.

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 you travel so many weeks a year, it’s always nice to have a home-cooked meal.

Since I’m constantly in the sun, I use sunscreen daily.

When you are young, you are a little naive.

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.

I think it’s so cool to be tall. Even when I’m not wearing heels people tell me I’m tall and I always take it as a complement. The good thing is I can always see everybody in the room.

It’s nice to be one of the most beautiful people.

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

It’s pretty hard being a tennis player and Mother Theresa at the same time and that’s just the way it is.

My style when I was younger was still unique to me. I didn’t necessarily dress by the trends, but I was always aware of what was trendy at the time and how I could apply it to my own sense of style.

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.

Every match I go into, I’m the huge favorite. I lose a set and it’s, like, crazy.

I’m proud to be a symbol like the army knife or the mountains.

Lectures which really teach will never be popular; lectures which are popular will never really teach.

I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.

I’m not a celebrity. I’m just the same Simone. I just have two Olympic Gold medals now.

As a sportsperson, the best thing is people recognising you and loving you for what you do. For me, glamour is 100 people in the hotel feeling happy to see you.

You need to look like a lady at the Oscars. Otherwise, Joan Rivers will tear you apart. Then again, you aren’t really anyone till Joan Rivers tears you apart.

I just knew that was what I wanted to do. I was going to perform as a singer; I was going to perform as a dancer, and I was, you know, going to do movies and be an actress. I was going to do it or die trying. That’s what my life was.