Once you taste the sweet honey, you want more of that.
Garbine Muguruza
That's my every day: putting things aside and going out there and have two hours of concentration of tennis.
I'm used to putting so many things aside to be able to compete.
I'm not afraid of playing somebody that is playing good.
I let my racket do the talking.
It's difficult to always perform well, to always go on the court and win and hit great shots. It takes a lot of time and a long learning process.
I always play with a very high ponytail so that my hair doesn't bother me.
When you're a kid and practice on clay, you're always, 'Oh, I wish I could win Roland Garros.'
I used to either lose in my first or second match or I would go very far in the tournament. So I've been saying to myself, 'Come on, you've got to get through these first two matches. They're very tough. Because afterwards you feel different.' So I'm really putting my energy into getting through to those later rounds.
People only see two hours of a tennis match where you're fighting and running and sometimes getting upset. There's a lot more than those two hours. Going out there and playing is actually the easy part.
To see that I'm on a good path, that I'm improving, is what I want to feel.
All I want is to win matches, and the ranking sooner or later will come.
I like to dance to Latin music, like salsa, like reggaeton.
I think I'm always nervous, even if I play not on the center court.
When a kid comes next to you, and she's like 'Ooh, one day I want to be like you!' you're like 'Wow, that's so nice to hear!'
Sometimes when you go into the match, you want it so badly. I think sometimes is tricky. It makes you a little bit, like, tense and nervous.
I like Sergio Ramos, who plays Real Madrid.
I just thought at Wimbledon I was very nervous.
Being in a Grand Slam, doesn't matter what you did before, it's always nervous and excitement.
I don't have superstitions because I think sometimes they work against you because, if something happens to disturb them, you feel nervous.
I started in a very small tennis club in a South American country where I never thought about becoming the best tennis player.
I was always following my brothers. If my brothers hadn't played, I never would have picked up a racket. Tennis isn't the most popular sport in Venezuela.
I moved to Spain, and at all the tournaments I'd play, I would be really good in my age. That made me realize that I could be a pro.
Once you step on the court, you see the crowd, you see the final, you see I'm here playing another Wimbledon final.
The best thing is being part of history and achieving something you've dreamed of.
I don't know a lot of people who achieve what they have really dreamed of as a little girl.
I have routines but not superstitions.
To be able to make other girls play - and hopefully in Latin America as well - is very important to me.
For me, it has an extra value to be able to beat the Williams sisters in the finals, because they are just so good. For me, it's proof of being literally the best player in the tournament.
It is a time for women's tennis to return to the light, as it were, and be on a par with men's tennis, which is at a very high level.
To have Serena in the Wimbledon final, I think, is the hardest match you can have.
If you want to win a Grand Slam, when you dream, you say, 'I want Serena in the final.'
I didn't play juniors, really. I only played Roland Garros juniors and maybe some European tournaments.
The problem we have in the WTA circuit is that the girls do not have a good relationship because we play against each other, and it's a sport.
I always travel with my coach and with my physio. And then when I'm in Europe, my parents, maybe they come to events.
When I was young, I looked up to Martina Hingis.
I always come very motivated to the Grand Slams.
Is very hard to find, like, a recipe to feel good fitness-wise, tennistically, mentally.
I'm happy that once again I see myself winning a Grand Slam, something that is so hard to do.
If I lose the first set, I still have two more. Let's not make a drama, you know.
I adapt more to the match for the second set.
I try to focus on more winning matches here and try to go forward rather than the ranking because is the first step, to win matches, getting far in tournament, and we see after.
When you're tired, you say, 'Hey, I need to rest from tennis or something.'
You can have a couple of games where you play bad or very good. I think I'm a type of player that days before I know how I feel, if I'm playing good, if I'm playing bad. This is not like lottery here.
My father is Spanish, and he went to Venezuela looking for a job. He was 20 something, and he fell in love with a Venezuelan girl. He owns a company there, producing iron and bronze.
When I came to Spain, I joined a tennis academy, and that was where I learnt the game.
It's true that my body's not small and my style is not defensive. I am aggressive, and I am tall.
I was about three years old when I started playing in Venezuela with my two older brothers. They're 12 and 11 years older, so I was always the little one.
I couldn't be accepted into tennis school because I was too young. I had to wait a year until I was four before they'd accept me.
The first tournament I ever played, I won. I was six years old.
