Everyone has attitude, and I think everyone should have attitude. But I know I have attitude, but that's just, I think if you don't have attitude, it comes only with self confidence. So if you don't have self confidence, you won't have attitude, and I think there's a difference when you have attitude and when you have arrogance.
Sania Mirza
I'm not a perfect Muslim; I think none of us are perfect human beings. I do the five pillars of Islam, you know, I pray five times a day.
No tennis player is perfect. Even if you're world #1, I don't think, you still have things to improve on, and I'm not even close to that. So I am going to have weaknesses in my game; I am going to have strengths in my game, but I still have time to develop a lot of things, hopefully, and we'll see how it goes.
On the tennis court, one needs a cool temperament, tremendous ball sense, reflexes, speed, hand-eye co-ordination, power, timing and peak physical fitness. Off the court, the player and support team need skills in planning, execution, travel, an ability to raise funds when needed, and several other talents.
As I came to the lime light, the media asked me many questions. A lot many moral policing... 'Wear this, wear that, why a T-shirt?' Everybody has the right to form their opinions, and I have the right to ignore them.
Everyone dreams of playing Wimbledon and winning it. I am glad this dream came true for me so fast in my career. It feels great after so many years of struggle.
I used to go swimming and passed the tennis courts every day, and that's how it started. My mum said, 'Why don't you play tennis in your summer holidays because you have nothing to do except swim for an hour or whatever?,' and that's how I started playing.
I think being a woman celebrity is the hardest thing in India... People will ask many things, what you wear, how you speak, when you will have a baby and other things.
As long as I am winning, people shouldn't care whether my skirt is six inches long or six feet long. How I dress is a very personal thing. It is scary that every time I wear a T-shirt, it becomes a talking point for the next three days.
As you grow older, it's harder to stay fit. Every day you wake up with pain, muscle aches which you don't know you had. I have to work harder on me than I used to when I was 18 years old. It takes me longer to recover now.
I really don't think about making fashion statements. Just like any other woman or girl, I like to dress up. I think I'm fortunate enough to be dressed by some of India's best designers and to have the opportunity to wear their wonderful creations. But I have never made a conscious effort to try and be a fashion icon or something.
I don't play tennis to prove a point to anyone. I play for my country and myself. It's not changing what people say or think. It's about what I can do. If I feel I have the ability to achieve something and haven't used my potential to that end, I'll keep trying till I succeed.
For some reason, every time I peak in my career, I injure myself. So, I'm constantly on the comeback trail.
Negativity sells. I have been labelled a rebel. If I had been one, would I have got married at 23? Would I have been a straight A student?
I have a passion for playing tennis and enjoy the workload and struggles of performing in this amazing global sport.
Not many people know, but my joints are extremely hypermobile, and that's why I'm more prone to injuries. That's why most of my major injuries were with the joints. I had a career-threatening wrist injury where picking up a fork to feed myself was a problem, and the thought of playing tennis again was so far from my mind.
I prefer eating to cooking.
One win, and you're on top of the world. Lose in the first round of the next tournament: you're back to reality.
As a young girl, I used to dream of giving an interview. You dream of stardom as a kid. People think they don't want to be stars. Everyone wants to be a star! That's the truth. Even grownups; they pretend they don't want to be one and don't care. But everyone wants to.
Fitness is defined differently by everyone, but for me, the most important thing is being healthy. As tennis players, what we do is not the healthiest thing. We almost abuse our bodies.
I don't think I'm old enough or experienced enough to give anyone any guidance. All I would like say is that as long as you're having fun, I think you're doing the right thing.
When I used to say I wanted to play at Wimbledon, they used to laugh in my face and say, 'What are you talking about, you're from Hyderabad, and you're supposed to... cook.' That's one of the notions that people have in this side of the world - it is our 'culture', within quotes, you know, to say what a woman can or cannot do.
I love any kind of food. I don't have a sweet tooth, but I love haleem.
As tennis players, you are never satisfied. We are greedy as players, always want better results.
I will play with anyone for my country. I may have my personal preferences, but such preferences have never come in the way of playing for India.
I love salon days to pamper myself, do my nails.
Professional tennis has become an extremely physical and unbelievably competitive sport. Injuries are the bane of tennis players, and it goes with the territory.
I have always believed that my job is to try and give my best on the tennis courts.
Tennis players are very fortunate that unlike some disciplines of sport, in mega-sporting events like the Grand Slams, they have a huge platform to showcase their talents on the world stage once every few months.
One of the thrills of playing at the top tennis centres of the world is to see the Indian flag go up whenever I'm participating in these events. That's enough motivation for any Indian who has the opportunity to perform at these tournaments.
You want to try and win as many slams as possible in your career. As a tennis player, that's what we always dream of as a kid, wanting to play slams, wanting to win them.
Tennis is like, it gives you a lot of chances, but if you don't take those chances, it takes a lot of chances away from you. It's just the scoring pattern. We cannot dwell over a loss or a win for very long. We have no time to celebrate; we have no time to dwell; we have to move on. Wake up the next day and try and win the match.
We players are as normal human beings as anyone else, and we also have the right to live a normal life. I don't understand why people talk so much about the way we dress up, how we walk, what we eat, and every little detail of ours. Players are the real heroes. Sports have both respect and fame, and I am fortunate enough to be a sportsperson.
I'm not a part of the glamour industry. I would like to focus on my game, and there are minimal chances of me getting into films.
I think people tend to forget that as celebrities we are still human. We have the same emotions - we cry, we have fun, we laugh, we get sad, and we get hurt. When something is written about you, which millions of people are reading, and it is not true, imagine how hurtful it can be.
When I go out on court, I don't care what I look like. I don't care if I'm out of my bed as long as I win the match, and that's what I'm there for. It doesn't matter what I'm wearing, it doesn't matter what I look, it doesn't matter what my hair feels like. All I feel is the moment I have to play well, give my 100% and win the match.
I love Bollywood as a viewer, but going in front of the camera and singing and dancing is not my thing.
I haven't thought of retirement yet, but when I stop enjoying the game or when injuries force me, I will quit.
Tennis is a funny game, and it takes a life-time of keeping one's eyes open on the circuit to have any chance of understanding the strange phenomena that exist in our exciting sport!
I'm partial to stilettos. Stilettoes and long, flowing dresses are my new favourites.
I like interior decoration, so I might do something in that. I might, at some point, take two years off to study interior decoration.
I miss singles terribly, but it is a choice I make because I don't feel I am good enough anymore. I don't want to be 100 odd in the world and still play for the heck of it.
