Masculinity comes from your look, all the way down to your attitude. It's a big part of being a tennis player. Even though tennis is a fairly friendly sport, intimidation is still a big part of it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
There's nothing masculine about being competitive. There's nothing masculine about trying to be the best at everything you do, nor is there anything wrong with it. I don't know why a female athlete has to defend her femininity just because she chooses to play sports.
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.
Masculinity is not something given to you, but something you gain. And you gain it by winning small battles with honor.
I think masculinity is bravado against the mystery of the universe of women. It's just a fear of not knowing what women have that's so powerful. It's this shield they put up to try to get closer.
Tennis is a mental game. Everyone is fit, everyone hits great forehands and backhands.
I grew up in an age where women's tennis did not have similar prizes to men, and they played in complete obscurity, really, compared to the men's game.
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.
When I play, I feel like I'm in a theatre, why should I look ugly then, because I'm a tennis-player?
I think that tennis is a lady's sport, so we should look out there like ladies.
If you look at tennis, the girls have become much more attractive; they wear makeup. In my generation, you were a tennis player. It wasn't like you had to look a certain way.