Katrina Adams

“Serena Williams is the ultimate champion. She knows what it takes to get to the top.”

“What we instill in our kids is that if you work hard, good things will happen.”

“It can be difficult playing friends. But you also have to know that it's a match, and this is what you do. And you do your best.”

“I try to walk when I'm playing golf so I get some exercise in.”

“Northwestern was never known as a sports school. I was proud to add a national title to the school.”

“I grew up in the USTA's junior circuit.”

“With Venus and Serena and their ascension - and you had a lot of kids that saw them and wanted to be like them - it's like any sport, any major athlete, like Michael Jordan in basketball: everybody wanted to be like Mike.”

“A new sport is being created every day in the U.S.”

“My parents have been unbelievable. Obviously, without them, I wouldn't be where I am.”

“We make sure that we continue to educate our youth on who Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe were.”

“I think tennis is very different than most of the other sports when you have the opportunity to go pro. For me, it was pretty simple. Tennis was always an individual sport, and your direct results determined where you could go and what you could do.”

“I was a player who was vying to do exactly what everyone else was doing, and I happened to be black.”

“I was throwing a spiral football at 6.”

“My role at the USTA allows me to fulfill my ambition to open up opportunities for people to play tennis that may not otherwise have a chance or an outlet to play.”

“For players from every age and every ability, the USTA National Campus will raise the bar on how we deliver tennis with the goal of making our great sport more accessible to more people than ever before.”

“Few players hit the swinging forehand volley as often, or as well, as Maria Sharapova.”

“My parents were teachers.”

“When I was a kid, people reached out and gave me a chance.”

“Anything with the title 'Breaking The Barriers' means a lot to us, and to myself in particular, because if it wasn't for those who broke the barrier of color before me, I would not have the opportunity to live the life I'm leading right now.”

“In college, you become truly independent; your discipline is honed. It has to be there for your studies. It helped make me who I am, and it increased my determination to be the best I could be.”