Venus Williams tells us how she manages to be a top-ranked athlete and run a business at the same time

Venus Williams, currently the 11th best women's player in the world, will play Britain's Johanna Konta — world number seven — in a Wimbledon semi-final showdown on Thursday.

37-year-old Williams has won 49 WTA singles titles and 22 doubles, seven grand slams, and $36.5 million (£28.1 million) in prize money throughout her career. She has been world number one on three occasions.

She also owns her own business, a line of fitness apparel called EleVen.

Business Insider spoke to Williams at the end of June when she was on her way to the UK to head to the Championships.

We asked her how she balances her busy life as an athlete with being an entrepreneur, and she shared her secrets to the perfect diet and the most effective exercise routines.

"Im a bit of a vampire"

"Obviously the first thing I do in the morning is get up and think about tennis," she said. "I’m mentally trained. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop doing that."

However, she added that he is "not a morning person."

"Getting up at 9 o'clock feels amazing, or 8'clock," she said. "I'm a night person — I'm a little bit of a vampire. But in order to play good tennis you have to go to bed."

Once she's finally risen, she says: "I love to start the day off with fruit, but it’s a little different at a tournament."

She then trains for four to five hours, both on her tennis game as well as "a lot of injury prevention and strenghtening."

As far as the most effective exercise?

"Some kind of plank," she said. "It hits so many muscle groups — maybe a plank with a jump. Or some sort of burpee."

After training, she heads to offices, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

While she doesn't get to spent any time there when she's on the road, she said: "When I come home it's the first stop I make. [My team and I] spend a lot of time together collaborating on the road, but there has to be a good amount of face time. You can't replicate that."

She added: "I only wish our office was outside. I'm going to have an office that's outside in the future."

After her time at the office, she'll spend time with family or do "normal stuff like go to the grocery store." Her diet consists of a lot of "grains, beans, and potatoes."

"I’m mostly a vegan right now," she said. "I fall off sometimes, but it’s not about perfection — it’s about trying to get there. It’s my life, nobody else’s."