To be a tennis champion, you have to be inflexible. You have to be stubborn. You have to be arrogant. You have to be selfish and self-absorbed. Kind of tunnel vision almost.
Even though there are a lot of bright tennis players out there, you still have to protect yourself and save all your mental and emotional energies for tennis.
I think team sports probably teach you more about giving - about being unselfish and being flexible.
When you're a famous, successful person at 16 years old, the rules change for you. Everybody is doing things for you to make life easier so you can go out and play. And I think you miss out on lot of growing up and a lot of reality checks.
Relationships are give-and-take, and when you're a tennis player, you're certainly not giving. You have to be self-absorbed. It has to be about you.
I was very, very shy as a younger girl, just petrified of people.
