Aside from her tennis and sports shoes, French tennis player Marion Bartoli does not own a pair of flats. She is absolutely in love with heels.

"I LOVE high heels! When I am not in sports outfit, I wear high heels. I don't even have a pair of flat shoes," the tennis star wrote in an e-mail interview, putting emphasis on the word "love".

She loves fashion too. "I love Italian fashion labels... Cavalli, Versace, Pucci and of course, French - Chanel and Dior,"

The current No. 7 female tennis player in the world and No. 1 French player was scheduled to play at the BMW Malaysian Open 2012 at Bukit Kiara recently but had to call off her participation due to injury.

Skin sense

Exposure to the sun forces her to look after her skin better. "I take good care of my skin, with sunscreen and moisturiser."

She drinks plenty of water to keep her skin hydrated and has a hairdresser who keeps tabs on her tresses since her hair is also under a lot of sun, sweat and stress.

"My hairdresser mixes a special shampoo and it is so good I always travel with it," she says.

Train for the game

But beauty and fashion aside, Bartoli is serious about her game.

She says she changes her training often.

"I like to change my routine, but usually it includes core work and cardio as well as more relaxing stuff such as yoga and stretching. And of course some work on the tennis court."

While many women still have the misconception that strength training makes them "bulky", Bartoli says she can't stress its importance enough.

"I do strength training two to three times a week. It's important to have some strength training in your regime to avoid injury on the tennis court," she says.

"Resistance training builds long and lean muscles and that's why I always do both.

And let's not forget stretching so you can keep the full range of motion of muscles and joints. That is also a very good way to avoid bulky muscles."

Food for fuel

Like other athletes, she eats well to maintain her performance on the tennis court. For breakfast, it's eggs for protein, wholewheat bread and a fruit smoothie.

"Lunch is usually fish with rice and vegetables and for dinner, I have beef or chicken with vegetables again. If I have just played a match, I will eat pasta as well for carbohydrates.

"What we eat is crucial. Food is body fuel, so I make sure I eat the right food at the right time. It also played a huge role in my recent improvement," she says.

Pillow talk

Bartoli understands the value of rest for better sports performance. She sleeps long hours, averaging between eight and nine hours nightly.

"If I am really tired and I've been travelling a lot, it can go up to 10 hours."

She doesn't think too much about her match the night before, but will concentrate on it on match day. She loves playing other sports too - volleyball, table tennis and squash.

What makes a champion tennis player?

She says: "I wish I knew the answer... but if I have to make a guess, I will say passion, dedication and hard work."