You have to be extreme to be exceptional. I couldn't revel in being number one. I had to get to zero. When my fitness was at its peak, I was intimidating. I made guys cave in. They'd be dejected in the locker room after matches, and I'd go out for a run, as if it wasn't enough. I'd rub it in their faces. I meant to do that.

There are only four U.S. tournaments that the very best players in the world play every year - Palm Springs, Miami, Cincinnati, and the U.S. Open. So how would golf or NFL or NHL fare if there were only four times a year that their very best were visible? Tennis went international, and for us to expect it to be popular media-wise is very naïve. And that translates into children and families being interested.

Trophies separate the winners from losers, and life is about winning and losing. Go into business and you see. You're competing every day.

We lose a lot of young athletes because tennis is such a difficult sport. It's not like kicking a soccer ball.

Focusing on one thing can be tough, and people with fewer options are more apt to concentrate on what they're doing. There's probably something to hunger.

America is the world's policemen, whether you and I like that or not. That's a fact. People globally feel that.

Tennis is still very successful in spite of itself.