“In the last year I have gained a lot of experience because I have been playing against top players and realized what things to work on to get better. Top players basically tell you what your weaknesses are on the court.”

When you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win.

I heard endless conversations between my parents when I was going to sleep about how we would survive, how we would continue. All of them were about trying to make me better.

I’m done growing. I only grow when I put my high heels on now.

I try not to hit a swing volley and run back. So my swing volley is kind of that transition to the net. It’s been one of my favorite shots ever since I was young.

I help design my own tennis clothes.

Ever since I was young I loved making things and being part of the design process.

When I make a commitment I stick to it.

When I make commitments I like to stick to them, especially when I’m giving back to kids. Just giving them an example of what they can achieve. I love giving back to kids. It’s fantastic.

The more matches I play, the more confident I get.

As someone who spends a lot of her time on the road, you have to look stylish but comfortable as I’m always in motion. Either traveling for my job, for pleasure, or managing the hectic pace of the modern day.

I have a Russian heart.

You control your own wins and losses.

There are so many roads you can take that will lead you the wrong way, that nobody will hear your name.

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.

I have had lots of luck in my career but there has also been a lot of hard work.

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.

Don’t worry when someone found faults in your job. Because often, faults are found in the place where there is much more betterment than others.

I am not as intelligent as Aamir Khan . I am barely managing to be in front of the camera. There are many people who know marketing well and surely Aamir knows much more than I do.

Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.

Do not be embarrassed by your mistakes. Nothing can teach us better than our understanding of them. This is one of the best ways of self-education.

I remember seeing RuPaul in ‘The Brady Bunch Movie,’ when she says to Jan, ‘Girl, you better work.’ And I froze it in my mind forever.

Sometimes it does upset you when you lose in the finals, or even in a quarterfinal or semifinal, especially when you think, ‘Maybe I could have played better,’ or even if you gave your 100 percent, and even then, you lose.

And we are never too old to study the Bible. Each time the lessons are studied comes some new meaning, some new thought which will make us better.

We cling to others because we feel like we won’t be able to do better. If you keep telling yourself that, then that’s all you’ll ever believe.