“When you come off the court and you feel like you were losing the whole match, and all of a sudden you pulled it out, you know, it’s those moments that you feel you’ve trained for and you work hard for. Just lucky to get through.”

I think when you have surgery on any part of your body, it’s never going to be the same.

Whether you win a match or lose a match, in terms of your emotions, it’s important to be pretty levelheaded.

As an individual, I take every match seriously, no matter who I’m going to play.

It’s always tough when you lose – you’ve worked so hard for that moment and it hasn’t gone the way you wanted. But you have to realise there’s always a bright side, you have to pick yourself up and get ready for the next game.

I’d probably start charging for medical timeouts. I think we’d all see who really uses them and who doesn’t.

When I come into a tournament, I’m expecting to win. That’s my philosophy. I can’t go to a tournament thinking, ‘I’m going to get my ass kicked today, so I might as well leave.’

If everything was going smoothly you would never build character.

I love to collect modern art.

I can’t say I don’t like acting, but I can’t imagine a career when I have to spend 70 percent of my time in a trailer eating Snickers bars.

Within a few years the name ‘Maria Sharapova’ will be a brand as universally recognized as Calvin Klein, BMW and Rolex.

If you’re able to help some people and make them smile and make them realize that life is good, then that’s worth so much more than buying a pair of shoes.

My family and I built my whole career from scratch.

I don’t follow other players or the tournaments they play. I have my own schedule and do my own thing. I never really think, ‘Oh, I want to be or play like so-and-so.’ I just like being myself.

No matter what you study, the thing that you know best is what you grew up with.

I always have a Sharpie, because usually when someone asks me for an autograph, they don’t have a pen. I carry one in my purse, as well as in my tennis bag.

I look forward to the challenges.

Is it a boon or curse I wonder; to feel another’s pain so much to consider it my own? To moan another’s funeral as if it were my own?

A million feelings. A thousand thoughts. A hundred memories. All for one person.

What if last time felt so beautiful simply because it actually was our last time?

How does it feel to have everything and still suffer from the lack of it? I have all the love in me, but without yours it means nothing at all.

I feel like I’m really young and I’m only thinking about my career and continuing playing.

Whether we are New Dealer, Old Dealer, Liberty Leaguer or Red, whether we agree or not, we still have the right to think and speak how we feel.

I feel only my friends and family need to know what is happening in my personal life.

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.