You are welcome.
- By winning French Open this year, you became the sixth woman in history and the first Russian to win a career Grand Slam. You also claimed Olympic Silver. Do you think ever think about retiring when you're on top and focusing on business?
- When I won WImbledon at 17, I surprised everyone including myself. Everyone started asking me about what I am going to do in the next five years. I had no idea what to answer. I couldn't imagine that I would still be competing in big events because even five years seemed like a very long time back then.
But it's been eight years now and here I am. Now it's hard for me imagine the moment when I will have to leave the sport. But it can happen any day.
- So you are thinking about retirement?
- Well... As a tennis player, you are not considered to be young anymore at 25. But I am definitely going to spend the next year competing.
I can't say whether I am going to play at the Olympic Games in Brazil - that's just too early to make predictions. Though in December I'm going there to play an exhibition with Caroline Wozniacki.
But don't that I am going to Brazil just to look at the country, though I love going to different places to learn about cultures and traditions. I am really good at organizing this sort of things for me and my friends - deciding what to see, where to eat and so on.
- Where do you find the energy? There are no rest days on your schedule.
- Sometimes I wake up in the morning and wonder whether I really need all this - getting up, training for hours, fighting for something... But the moment I realize that there's nothing major I have to worry about, my mood and confidence go up.
- Some people say that you and your boyfriend broke up because you and Vujacic both got so engrossed in your career that you didn't have time to keep your relationship. Is it true? That rich and successful people like you, who were about to get married, broke up because their career aspirations are more important?
- Well, in sports, you have limited time to achieve your goals. Why shouldn't career matter? My career is very important for me as well as Sasha's is for him.
He works hard and I probably work even harder. We both want to achieve a lot and we only have several years left. Why shouldn't we make the most of it?
Of course, dating with schedules like ours is very hard. Basically, it's impossible, as you can see from our experience. It was a hard decision for me but in the end it was better to put a full stop than to leave things as they were.
- Did you have real relationship? Once you said you didn't see each other for almost a year at some point. Were you actually engaged? Makign wedding preparations? Or it was just something you did to get media attention?
- Of course we were a real couple. I would never use my relationships as a marketing tool.
As you could've noticed, I don't express my feeling in public and never talk about my previous or current partners unless I am asked directly. We were engaged indeed but we never made a big deal out of it. What would be the point?
- Did you make wedding preparations? Many fans bought Istanbul tickets hoping to see you in a wedding dress.
- No, we never made it to the preparations stage.
- And how about prenuptial agreement?
- No, of course not, never.
– Did he hurt you in some way? You know, people don't break up when everything's perfect.
- We had a wonderful relationship, tender and full of trust. Sasha is still a close friend of mine, I didn't just throw him out of my life. We call each other sometimes. He is a great person - fun, caring and hard-working. He's a real pro when it comes to basketball. I hope everything will work out well in his life.
- And what would you wish for yourself? After breaking up with Vijacic, did you decide to draw a line between sports and your private life? Is marriage something that has to wait until you're done with tennis?
- No, I wouldn't say so. Hopefully, I will be lucky. I believe I am going to get married one day. Great things lie ahead of me.