I don't need many things. I don't need glamour and attention to be happy. I'm very happy being settled and working my butt off and trying to win grand slams.
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 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 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.
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.
After being on the court for six hours, being on TV is very glamorous and fun for me. But tennis is always going to be my priority. It's not going to be this thing when all of a sudden TV will get in the way of that.
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.'
His name, even, is part of the marketing scheme, I mean, Thelonious Sphere Monk - how can you think of a better name to fit his style of playing?
People come from a certain generation and a certain whole way of looking at things, and you really do become a prisoner of your own world.
Certain formats should never be forgotten, 'Blind Date' for instance, because 'Britain's Got Talent' is really 'New Faces' or 'The Gong Show,' whilst we're basically 'Opportunity Knocks.'
I think rap in the street when they have rap competitions is thrilling because these kids are making it up and having a go at each other. They've got something to say. This is about getting their frustrations out.
I'm not thinking about me that much anymore. Every time I look, I'm looking for my daughter, you know? If I'm in a store, I'm looking at baby clothes. It's so much cuter to find things for her than to find things for me.
A lot of American guys wear really wide legged jeans and square shoes. Then they come to Sweden and think my friends are gay because they're wearing 'really tight jeans'. It's called 'fitted!'
It is impossible to be completely abstract about clothes because they have no life unless they are worn. They must fit onto a body or they do not exist.
I think that fear comes about when there's things in the world that we want to change, things we're scared or angry about, and we can't change them, and so we become fearful; we develop anxiety.
Which goes to show you, you can make all the laws you want, but you cannot change people's ways. If you must change them, you have to understand that it will take a long time.
My best business decision was to be independent as a musician and artist. My worst was compromising on certain aspects of a deal for the sake of other members of my group when I shouldn't have, because I was right in the end.
When you do find humor in trying times, one of the first and most important changes you experience is that you see your perplexing problems in a new way - you suddenly have a new perspective on them.
I'd never stop traveling, and I love bringing my family along with me. My children have points of reference everywhere, friends from Milan to Los Angeles. I think it's really fun for them.
I came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and I had a different kind of focus than most people who have just the academic background as their primary training experience.
Most people come out of their Ph.D. experience trying to prove themselves, trying to get ahead, trying to get published. You're scared everybody else is going to do your research and get your topic.
