In tennis, at the end of the day you're a winner or a loser. You know exactly where you stand... I don't need that anymore. I don't need my happiness, my well-being, to be based on winning and losing.

I was very, very shy as a younger girl, just petrified of people. Tennis helped give me an identity and made me feel like somebody.

You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.

If I win several tournaments in a row, I get so confident I'm in a cloud. A loss gets me eager again.

I think team sports probably teach you more about giving - about being unselfish and being flexible.

Don’t let a first-set victory lead into a second-set slump

When I was in grade school and we had to write papers about what we wanted to be when we grew up, I wanted to be a social worker or a missionary or a teacher... Then I got involved with tennis, and everything was just me, me, me. I was totally selfish and thought about myself and nobody else, because if you let up for one minute, someone was going to come along and beat you. I really wouldn't let anyone or any slice of happiness enter... I didn't like the characteristics that it took to become a champion.