I've always considered myself the best and the top. I never considered that I was out of it.

Tennis is my job, but it's not my life.

If I'm winning, I have to act like I'm not bored. If it's A tough match, I have to act like I'm having A good time. I'm a drama queen.

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 have started to realize that I am really just a world athlete and a world entertainer -- I am a world-known person, I am a global icon.

Everybody who plays me plays me so hard because they always want to beat me.

I'm proud to have opened [two] schools in Africa and one in Jamaica [through the Serena Williams Fund and its partners]. I was given a lot. I was given two parents. That's already starting above a lot of kids. And then I was given the opportunity to play tennis and parents who supported that. I feel I can give back.