Maria Sharapova quotes:

I'm an afternoon tea type of girl. I come from a Russian background where we love our teas. So between lunch and dinner after training I come home and I love a nice cup of tea with jam in it, as we drink it there. Black English Breakfast with raspberry jam is my favorite.

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 want my handbags and my shoes to be stylish but I want to make sure that they're versatile. I travel and I have to make sure the pieces I put into my bag can go with a dress or with shorts or jeans.

I'm just like every other girl who likes to shop, likes to look good, likes to spend time with friends.

I don't spend a lot of my time in the locker room. That's my least favourite place in the world.

I have a very big sweet tooth and I love treating myself to something that I wouldn't necessarily eat during the tournament such as a nice-sized cake.

A great tennis career is something that a 15-year-old normally doesn't have. I hope my example helps other teens believe they can accomplish things they never thought possible.

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.

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.

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.

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

I'm always on the go. I love doing things until I hit rock bottom. Then I need my 12 hours of sleep, and I'm on the go again.

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.

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

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.

Whenever I have friends over, we end up eating and talking and losing track of time, and, once in a while, singing karaoke. It reminds me of the family meals we had in Russia, which always lasted a very long time. That's a tradition I miss.

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

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.

You control your own wins and losses.

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

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.

When you are young, you are a little naive.

I hit a ball for a living, but I have that passion to keep learning.

I go to yoga classes and work on my core.

My main goal is to stay healthy because when you're injured you realise how lucky you are to have your health.

I find a lot of inspiration in street style and watching women walk, the way they wear things and what they're wearing.

I love to collect modern art.

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

I'm always that annoying person that pulls out the camera in the middle of dinner and starts taking candids.

Whether you win a match or lose a match, in terms of your emotions, it's important to be pretty levelheaded.

I don't follow other players or the tournaments they play. I have my own schedule and do my own thing. I never really think, 'Oh, I want to be or play like so-and-so.' I just like being myself.

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

I love where I'm from. I don't live there because of the circumstances, but all my family is there. It's what's inside, it's not what's outside that determines the culture and the feeling.

I can't please everyone. That's not in my J.D., you know, not in my job description.

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.

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.

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

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

Tennis has given me this wonderful life and I'm very grateful for it.

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 have always had an interest in fashion and design and I appreciate style and timelessness within my footwear and accessories both on and off the court

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

I always have a Sharpie, because usually when someone asks me for an autograph, they don't have a pen. I carry one in my purse, as well as in my tennis bag.

Tennis has never been the most important thing in my life. My family, my health, my happiness...they are more important to me. On court, I want to win. Off court, I want to be a better person. Tennis is a path to my future.

Within a few years the name 'Maria Sharapova' will be a brand as universally recognized as Calvin Klein, BMW and Rolex.

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 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.

I know you are reporters and I know this is your job, but, you know, take your note pads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put everything away and just watch the match, you know, from just the fans' perspective. I seriously think that the quality of the match today was great.

I don't do heavy weights at all.

If I loved a guy as much as I love my dog, the guy would be in serious trouble because I'm all over that dog, all of the time.

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 learned there's a big difference between juniors and the pros.

It's pretty hard being a tennis player and Mother Theresa at the same time and that's just the way it is.

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'm not a huge gym person, so I try to stay away from the gym. But I love to run on the beach or go for a walk. It's better than riding a stationary bike.

I know my roots and I cannot forget the journey I made.

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

Since I'm constantly in the sun, I use sunscreen daily.

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.

Women's tennis is getting faster and the girls are getting more athletic, so I need to push myself to become a better athlete. I think 2013 showed me, like a few other years how important being healthy is and how I must listen to my body. During this off season I have been a little smarter on how I train and how I treat my body.

Well, fans always root for the underdog.

I've been very competitive by nature from a young age, whether it was eating a bowl of pasta faster than somebody else, or always wanting to be the first one in line.

This decision will only strengthen the bond between women players and one of the world's great sporting events [on equal prize money at Wimbledon

That is what is most special about achieving equality - the positive signal that it will send the world over to the next generation of girls dreaming of winning Wimbledon or becoming a scientist or going to the moon as an astronaut.

I have always had an interest in fashion and design and I appreciate style and timelessness within my footwear and accessories both on and off the court.

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'm not the next anyone, I'm the first Maria Sharapova.

I love to eat, and if I could, I'd eat every second of my life.

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.

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

You have your bad moments in your career and your good moments. And it's been a good ride so far, but it's not over yet.

When you're going through tough moments, you never know when you're going to have good moments.

It's strange for my friends when they see me on TV and in magazines, because the person that they see doing interviews and pictures on the red carpet is not the person that they know.

I look forward to the challenges.

If I loved a guy as much as I love my dog, the guy would be in serious trouble. Because I'm all over that dog, all the time.

There are so many roads you can take that will lead you the wrong way, that nobody will hear your name.

If I can create something that allows a woman to feel better - that is the true reward.

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.'

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

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.

As an individual, I take every match seriously, no matter who I'm going to play.

As someone who spends a lot of her time on the road, you have to look stylish but comfortable as I'm always in motion. Either traveling for my job, for pleasure, or managing the hectic pace of the modern day.

I can't say I don't like acting, but I can't imagine a career when I have to spend 70 percent of my time in a trailer eating Snickers bars.

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

I don't have to follow any special diet or count calories. I try to eat healthily and before a match I load up on pasta and salads. But I pretty much do what I want.

I don't worry about what my opponent is doing.

I had so many outs in my career. I could have said, 'I don't need this. I have money; I have fame; I have victories; I have Grand Slams.' But when your love for something is bigger than all those things, you continue to keep getting up in the morning when it's freezing outside, when you know that it can be the most difficult day, when nothing is working, when you feel like the belief sometimes isn't there from the outside world, and you seem so small. But you can achieve great things when you don't listen to all those things.

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

I help design my own tennis clothes.

I know many of you thought that I would be retiring today, but if I was ever going to announce my retirement it would not be in a downtown Los Angeles hotel with this fairly ugly carpet.

I learned English in one month. I told myself I should listen. In the next month I could talk to everyone. I was so happy because I could do one thing...I could talk.

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.

I love what I do and I love being an athlete, but I also love all the things that have come with it.

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

I never really had an idol.

I never think about the numbers. I've never played tennis for the money, because as long as I enjoy it, and I can achieve anything, then the money will come. I know that things will start coming up, many more people will want to start getting involved. But I just want to keep my head cool, and I want to leave (business) to the people who take care of business. I just go out and I just play tennis.

I personally love Jennifer Lawrence. She's an amazing actress, but so young and fresh and youthful.

I think that's why I play tennis, because of the challenge, because of the competition, .. That's why we love to play tiebreaker in the third set. It makes it more exciting, and the bigger support in the stand, and more fans involved in it. I really enjoyed the competition and took a lot of hard work to make myself No. 1 at 18 years old.

I think when you have surgery on any part of your body, it's never going to be the same,

I think when you know what you are going to wear, it fits and it's great material, then you feel confident in it.

I want my tennis to speak for everything.

I was very disappointed (at the U.S. Open), and I went out there and I worked really hard.

I'd like to have a family.

I'd probably start charging for medical timeouts. I think we'd all see who really uses them and who doesn't.

If everything was going smoothly you would never build character.

If you're able to help some people and make them smile and make them realize that life is good, then that's worth so much more than buying a pair of shoes.

I'm 17 years old and there are many great things ahead. If I don't win the U.S. Open this year, it's not going to be a disaster in my life.

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

I'm done growing. I only grow when I put my high heels on now.

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

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

I'm not the next anyone, I'm the first Maria Sharapova

I'm not the next Kournikova-I want to win matches!

In the last year I have gained a lot of experience because I have been playing against top players and realized what things to work on to get better. Top players basically tell you what your weaknesses are on the court.

It'll be great. Of course I was disappointed last year. But . . I'll get my revenge.

It's nice to be one of the most beautiful people.

Maybe if I was British, a semi-final would be incredible. I'd be on the front page of the paper.

Music is a part of my life all the time - on the plane, before matches, driving out to the court.

My family and I built my whole career from scratch.

My next goal is to be number one in the world.