“I think my father is probably the best coach ever because, if we talk about numbers, he’s got a lot and he’s only had two players.”

I always ask my dad why wasn’t I a lefty? Even when I was younger I wanted to be lefty. I could have been really good.

I like to wear classic silhouettes and add a punch to it. I’ll wear a high-waist legging and a super-crop top or a see-through top with a nice bra underneath. And I just always try to mix it up with heels or something.

I never left my roots. You can identify me as someone that didn’t become high and mighty. Humility is a defining [trait] all of us can forever learn, and I try to be as humble as anyone can be.

I don’t want to end my career and then start something. I like to do something while my career is still hot and I’ve always enjoyed designing.

I always say if I play my best it’s difficult to beat me

Nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream.

I just never give up. I fight to the end. You can’t go out and say, ‘I want a bag of never-say-die spirit.’ It’s not for sale. It has to be innate.

I’m a perfectionist. I’m pretty much insatiable. I feel there’s so many things I can improve on.

Tennis just a game, family is forever.

I’ve always been a fighter and I’ve always fought through things my whole life.

I feel as a brand I’m here to be around for a long time.

I’m Serena Williams on the court, but away I have so many different names. I call myself Butterfly.

I really hope that I can be helpful in that journey because I do believe that women deserve the same pay. We work just as hard as men do. I’ve been working, playing tennis, since I was three years old. And to be paid less just because of my sex – it doesn’t seem fair.

I don’t go there thinking I’m going to lose. I never go into a tournament thinking that. I’ll do the best that I can. I need to be at my peak and my best is holding up the trophy. Anything less I wouldn’t be really excited about. So that’s all I can focus on.

The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.

I love who I am, and I encourage other people to love and embrace who they are. But it definitely wasn’t easy – it took me a while.

You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father s. He’s more particular. The father is always a Republican towards his son, and his mother’s always a Democrat.

I wish to raise a Black man who will not be destroyed by, nor settle for, those corruptions called power by the white fathers who mean his destruction as surely as they mean mine.

I personally always find something really scary about watching little girls learning to manipulate their dads by baby talking. Then they grow up and use the same technique on their boyfriends or husbands. That scares me because it’s just so sick on so many levels.

He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.

A father’s love always brings healing.

My father was always in good spirits, he loved football. It makes me a bit sad because if he could enjoy seeing me now, what I have achieved, that would be a highlight in his life. But I’m sure that he watches over me from above.

To her, the name of father was the name of god.

My dad’s probably one of the kindest people in the world. When I was younger that’s not how I was- I was a little spoiled brat.