On Saturday, Serena Williams won her fourth Wimbledon title. Her sister Venus has five – so you know Serena is going to keep on until she at least ties with her big sister. Before she even flew to Wimbledon, Serena participated in a photo shoot and interview with Harper’s Bazaar. While I like that Serena is confident in herself enough to pose in a bathing suit in a fashion magazine, I think the Bazaar people might hate her? Why did they do that to her hair? Is that a wig or a hairstyle? Because it makes Serena look just terrible. Anyway, the interview is interesting – Serena talks a lot about body image and the comparisons to her sister. The full piece is here, and here are some highlights:

After she won the Australian Open in January she worked out a lot: “I wanted to get really fit. I wanted to lose some weight. So I’ve been doing Pilates and yoga, trying to lean out my body so I won’t be bulky.” Her regimen: Pilates two or three times a week and when she’s training for a tournament, “a couple of hours of hitting, then an hour or two of cardio and strengthening in the gym.” Also, when she’s at home in L.A., she runs the half mile up a hill to Venus’s house instead of driving.

But no dieting. “I don’t even know the D word,” she says with a laugh. There is a training eating plan, though: “Smaller portions of every meal, a lot of grilled or baked chicken or fish, and steamed veggies.” Her weakness? “ I can never turn down a good piece of cherry pie, but,” she continues, “all I know is that in 10 years, I don’t want to be as wide as this couch.”

It’s working: Williams, who adds that “Pilates gave me results within a week,” looks the best she’s ever looked and is now a size 10 instead of a 12.

“Owning” her athleticism: “When I was six or seven in a swimsuit—I look back at those picture, and my arms are cut and my legs are strong,” she says. “I didn’t realize that I was really fit and most people aren’t. To this day, I don’t love my arms. People want more fit arms, but my arms are too fit. But I’m not complaining. They pay my bills.”

Serena’s body comparison to Venus: “I was 23 when I realized that I wasn’t Venus. She’s totally different,” she explains. “I’m super curvy. I have big boobs and this massive butt. She’s tall and she’s like a model and she fits everything. I was growing up, wanting to be her, wanting to look like her, and I was always fitting in her clothes, but then one day I couldn’t.” She pauses. “But it’s fine. Now I’m obviously good, but it’s a weird thing.”

On her favorite body parts: “Since I don’t look like every other girl, it takes a while to be okay with that. To be different. But different is good,” she says. She’s loving her new bob too. “I feel so much sexier with short hair. I wanted to reach inside me and feel better. I don’t want to hide behind a facade of hair.” Her favorite part of her body? “My smile. Does that count? I think a smile can make your whole body. Models, they look fabulous, but they don’t smile and they look so mad. But I like my smile, how it’s bright and it’s nice. Good thing my braces worked out.”

On her former relationship with rapper Common: She was dating the rapper and actor Common, but they broke up in April. “his schedule is actually worse than mine,” she sighs. “He didn’t want the responsibility. It’s really tough.” Common then began promoting his latest film, heaping enough praise on Williams that people assumed they were still on. (“Beautiful, intelligent woman, fun and spiritual woman. I think she’s an incredible person,” he told Access Hollywood.) Williams looks befuddled—befuddled but coquettish. “So I called him and I was like, Why are you saying all this stuff when we’re not together?”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

I actually forgot that she and Common were dating, and that they had broken up. They kept their relationship quiet, didn’t they? And I like Common better now that I know that he not only dated Serena, but said nice things about her afterwards. That’s classy.

Anyway, thankfully Serena didn’t wear one of the borderline-obscene outfits that she and her sister seem to love. Instead she chose a more traditional flouncy white skirt and a little shrug-type cover (that she took off when she played). She looked really good!

Header photo courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar.