Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki will be featured as a cover athlete for ESPN The Magazine’s BODY Issue, hitting newsstands July 7. Finally back in action after last year's persistent ankle injury, Wozniacki is ready for Wimbledon – and the ninth annual BODY Issue. The 12-year WTA tour veteran spills on her training, her drive and the hardest thing she's ever done physically.

WOZNIACKI QUOTES FROM ESPN THE MAGAZINE

“I was always told that there's no chance that a girl from Denmark can become a world-class tennis player. We've never had any women in the top 30. Every time I would say, “I want to be No. 1 in the world,” people would just laugh at me. But I'll find a way. I don't take no for an answer.”

“I don't have as much power in my groundstroke as some of the other girls, but I'm fast and I know that I can last for a long time out there. My fitness is something I pride myself on. I think that's definitely something that I win quite a few matches on.”

“I think being in the public eye and getting judged for everything you do and however you look, I think that helped me as well. Just saying, ‘You know what? People will have an opinion. Some people will love you; some people will not.’

“I think the most impressive thing I've done was to run the New York City Marathon in under three and a half hours. It was on my bucket list. Until Mile 21, I was fine. This is easy, I'm going to run another one. But at Mile 21, I completely hit the wall. I saw a milkshake place on the right and was like, ‘Can we just stop and have a milkshake?’ And then [my two pacers] just started talking about milkshakes, and because they kept talking to me, it pushed me through that mile, mile and a half where I was struggling. It was the toughest thing I've ever done physically in my life.”

Photo credit: Eric Lutzens