“While there are many good courts in the country, we need to have good coaches for more players to come up. Not everyone can go to Gopichand Academy, and everyone cannot afford international tournaments.”

Every tournament is important for me.

I was at the Gopichand Academy since I was 10.

My long-term goal is to become the world number one player.

I didn’t think I would have an Olympic medal at 21, but I knew I would give my best and play my game. I just viewed it as my first Olympics and that I would take it one match at a time, but to bring a silver home made me very, very happy.

If it makes me happy, it definitely adds to my well-being.

There were many struggles, but my parents supported me a lot. Whenever I wanted anything, wherever I wanted to go, practice session etc., they were there for me.

Since I’m the youngest in the family, I sulk when my parents deny me something, although I come around when they explain why it was denied.

Injuries are part of life. We can’t decide on that.

Against each player, I will give 100 per cent. I give my best in every game.

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.

Affordable luxury – these are two words that don’t go together.

We cannot afford to regard as normal the presence of injustice, inhumanity, and violence, including their verbal and cyber manifestations.

Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety.

I can’t afford no liquor, all I can buy is beer and wine.

I think that’s become passe, but if you can surround yourself with a kind of monument to yourself and your family – a statement – and you can afford it, then that’s a noble project.

Only great minds can afford a simple style.

The privileged classes today are bothered about petrol and diesel prices while the poor can’t afford two meals a day. I am a very small person, but I want us to think beyond personal and regional interests.

I’m like, ‘Yeah, I could afford braces, but why should I change myself to be what everybody else wants me to be when I’m OK with who I am and I’m happy with who I am?’