Leave it to Venus Williams, 38 years a sage, to regale *Elle UK* readers with some modern wisdom.

"Well, really it’s all about love," she says of her three vocations. "You’ve got to love what you do. I made the decision a long time ago that I wouldn’t do anything that I didn’t love, and I always had a choice. That’s why I feel grateful – I get to choose my life."

Glad for the opportunities, Williams finds herself lucky to love playing the pro game, owning an interior-design business and designing tennis and athleisure wear. But that's not all she tells Elle. She's also keen on starting a family, especially after inhabiting aunthood thanks to still-under-1 niece Olympia.

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"I have worked so hard all my life, so one of my personal goals after this chapter is to actually have a life," Williams says in the magazine, now online though originally published in June's print edition ahead of Wimbledon. "Because I work and travel so much, it’s become a goal to one day slow down." Her statement echoes that of Monica Seles, who last week told a San Jose audience that life on tour can be rather "one dimensional."

Still, will she? Williams coyly looks to the future even as she celebrates past accomplishments. The work is never done, and not quite good enough, for Williams the Elder.

"But suddenly, these milestones just creep up on you. I’m just excited that my [1,000th game] was a win. I would like to think that the next 1,000 on a professional tour will be when I retire."

That thousandth match victory came more than 20 years into her career. With a winner's mindset, Williams looks not so much at padding her legacy as outdoing herself. Future tense.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.

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Venus' personal goal
"is to actually have
a life" one day

Venus' personal goal "is to actually have a life" one day

ATP Toronto

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev headline the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Watch live coverage from four courts on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday, August 6th at 11:00 A.M.