Venus Williams

Growing up, I'd just be at home, playing tennis, spending my allowance on an ice-cream truck.

Tennis has been around for so long - women have been playing the majors since the 1800s. Other sports have not had professional leagues for women for as long.

Tennis is definitely a star for women in sports.

Women's tennis has been around for a very long time - we're talking about the 1800s. But women's soccer hasn't had such a long history, so now they're right at the beginning of really trying to make things equal. We need to continue not only to advocate for women but to have men advocating for women.

I've learned you can always achieve more than you thought you could. There are moments when I've walked off the court, and I'm like, 'I don't know how I won that match.' It was actually impossible, but it happened, and then you realize that you can push yourself much further than you ever thought, and you can make the impossible happen.

I knew my destiny was to be in the winner's circle. There were times along the way where I didn't make it there. But I felt my destiny was definitely to win big titles, win lots of titles.

A lot of times when you play... you get this adrenalin that blocks pain.

Serena and I have done some great career planning, and we're playing really at the peak of our tennis right now. I think tennis has been a sport where people play this insane schedule from 14 years old, so of course at 26, it's over. We've really paced ourselves.

Everything is tennis for me, it's my career and it's entertainment, but it's also a business.

I want my opponents to look at me across the net and just not want to play me because I look so fit and amazing and strong. So that's always my goal.

I want to get better. Every time you lose, you learn from it, and after every win, you look to building on the tempo.

I've been very focused on my career outside of tennis.