Serena Williams lost the Singles Final at the Paris Open last weekend. After Serena’s stellar run in 2015 – where she won every major slam except for the US Open – the Paris Open was a bit of a disappointment. But Serena doesn’t wallow, and I think she’s got a good shot at winning Wimbledon for the second year in a row, which would break Steffi Graff’s singles Slam record. Serena covers the new issue of Glamour to talk about her plans for this year, how she’s not going to retire any time soon and more. Melissa Harris Perry did the interview and as I read the full piece (you can see it here), I could feel MHP geeking out on Serena. So the piece is fan-girly, but it’s really good. Some highlights:

Whether she thinks about breaking Graf’s record: “I do. But it’s not the end-all, be-all. It’s something I would like to achieve, but I’ve achieved so much on the court and off already.”

She’s going to the Rio Olympics: “I’m not taking Zika lightly. Especially being older, I definitely am going everywhere protected. I’m protecting myself.

Being called “the world’s greatest athlete.” “Oh my gosh, I don’t know. That’s so hard to say. I try to be the best that I can be every day. I have bad days. I had a bad day the other day. I hit for only, like, 30 minutes, and I stormed off the court. But that was the best I could do on that day. So am I the greatest? I don’t know. I’m the greatest that I can be.

Carrying the hopes & dreams of so many young black girls: “That’s something. I meet people who say, “Girl, I watch every match, and I pray for you.” I feel that energy and those prayers. Sometimes when I’m down on the court, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, “They want me to win. Is there anything else I can give?” It encourages me to do better, to fight harder.”

How she feels about losing: “No one takes a loss harder than I do. In any sport. I hate losing more than I like winning. I work harder. I study to see where I went wrong. But I carry the loss. My coach has said to me, “When you win a match or a tournament, you don’t even think about it—the very next minute you’re like, ‘Now I’ve got to focus on Wimbledon.’ You should take the losses the same way.” I need to look at those losses as learning experiences.

Whether she feels her age (she’s 35) on the court: “Who says that your thirties is when you’re supposed to be done? I would like to know who made that rule! I was talking to my mom one time, like, “Gosh, I’m 30.” And she’s like, “In your thirties you’re even stronger than in your twenties.” I didn’t believe her, but I have played better in my thirties. And I played pretty well in my twenties, don’t get me wrong! But my consistency is better, my momentum is better, my wins are quicker.

Equal pay in sports: “These sports have a lot of work to do. And I really hope that I can be helpful in that journey because I do believe that women deserve the same pay. We work just as hard as men do. I’ve been working, playing tennis, since I was three years old. And to be paid less just because of my sex—it doesn’t seem fair. Will I have to explain to my daughter that her brother is gonna make more money doing the exact same job because he’s a man? If they both played sports since they were three years old, they both worked just as hard, but because he’s a boy, they’re gonna give him more money? Like, how am I gonna explain that to her? In tennis we’ve had great pioneers that paved the way—including Venus, who fought so hard for Wimbledon to pay women the same prize money they pay men, and Billie Jean King, who is one of the main reasons Title IX exists.

Dealing with racist BS: “I try not to be protected. Because I feel like you can become a little bit of a robot. That’s not who I am. And I don’t want to be monotone. It’s important to be yourself, whatever the cost.

[From Glamour]

When I think of all of the stuff Serena Williams has to carry and how she carries it almost entirely with grace and lightness, it sort of astounds me that she is able to win, that she is the #GOAT, that she is still fighting and winning on the court at her age. But what I love about Serena is that she has benefited so much from the long view, from having a career that has spanned decades. All of that bulls—t that she’s faced – from racism and sexism and beyond – is nothing compared to her actual career, and the physical proof that she is one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Photos courtesy of Glamour.