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

Through my travels, I find inspiration in street style and how young women create their individual looks and identity.

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.

The forehands or backhands don't mean much after three hours.

My family and I built my whole career from scratch.

I'm never standing still and that makes my life pretty exciting.

I'd love to open a tennis school for children in my hometown of Sochi.

I love street style, seeing how girls wear pieces and how their pair accessories with their outfit. How they pair shoes with a bag and go to day to night and change things up.

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 don't worry about what my opponent is doing.

When I need to push myself, I think of all those nicely polished trophies waiting to be lifted up by the winner - and how that winner might be me.

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 love yoga. I do yoga when I have time, which is not very often.

I don't get to do as much sightseeing as I would like to.

I help design my own tennis clothes.

I go to yoga classes and work on my core.

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

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

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

I'd like to have a family.

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

I love getting consumer reports. I think it's one of my favourite things, studying what people have to say about the product and then trying to make it better.

When I'm down or maybe when it's close in the match, I feel like I'm still in it. I don't feel like I'm letting down. Mentally, I'm still really, really tough.

I look forward to the challenges.

I want to be different. If everyone is wearing black, I want to be wearing red.

I have a Russian heart.

You control your own wins and losses.

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 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 owe a lot to my parents.

I still love things that you don't even need to pay for. Going to the beach and being around five of your friends and having a good time means so much more than going out and spending hundreds of dollars.

When you look good, you feel good. Confidence with what you're wearing is very important. If you feel good, you will always perform your best without worrying about anything.

I'm focused on going out every day and doing my best.

I love jotting down ideas for my blog, so I doodle or take notes on all kinds of stuff that inspires me: the people I meet, boutiques I visit, a florist that just gave me a great idea for an interior-design project, things like that.

I mean, I think I'm doing a lot better than other people that have had shoulder surgery in their careers. Some people have never come back.

When you are young, you are a little naive.

Sometimes I feel my arm is like a swan's neck - so weak.

When I travel, I love speaking to women around the world about the things that inspire them, the fashions they like, what makes something good and what would make it even better.

I'm an athlete. I go out there and fight my heart out.

I'm just a very tough person when I go on the court, and I really don't want to lose.

I definitely feel Russian inside, even when I'm in America I feel Russian.

I've been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience.

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

It's easy to impress me. I don't need a fancy party to be happy. Just good friends, good food, and good laughs. I'm happy. I'm satisfied. I'm content.

I spent a whole year when I was injured just trying to get my arm back to the point where I could hit a tennis ball for more than 30 minutes a day. I'd hit for 15 minutes and it would feel as if my arm was going to fall off.

When I walk through that gate to the court, that's my escape. I block out everything, good and bad.

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.

Of course, everyone knows my story of being born in Russia and moving to the United States at 7. For a few years people would say, 'Well, she's living in the United States, but she's Russian.'

I love playing for my country, getting the support. Especially for the kids and everybody, showing my example of what I can achieve so early. And maybe they can achieve it, too, just to get that in their minds.