There are certainly great cities in America that don't have ATP and WTA events. Our fans are very provincial. They want American champions.

When I turned professional, what I was really aiming for was to be in the top 100, try to hold the top 100 for ten years, and just be in the show, and have a nice career. It's more than I could have ever hoped for. I worked awfully hard for it, but there are other people who worked just as hard and didn't get the breaks. I recognized that I've been lucky and being able to live this life that I wanted since a young age. I really went after it with everything that I have and somehow it worked out.

There is a lot of pressure on tennis players like other sports that are singular like you're not on a team. When all the pressure rides on your shoulders, it can be a lot different. Team sports you share those moments with the teammates. You share the pressures. You share the wins. You share the losses. You have a coach that can change the course of matches. But in tennis you're out there by yourself. There are no caddies. There are no coaches. You do it alone in the arena and I think that ups the ante a little bit.

There used to be a lot more politics in the Olympics, when the Soviet Bloc committed a lot of resources for propaganda purposes.

You can kick a ball into the net, throw a basketball into the net. Tennis is complicated. It'll make a lot of great athletes run the other way because they can't be successful initially.

There's no evidence that says that the money a federation has translates into success. I hope that that will change.

If I had to choose one man to play for my life, it would be Nadal.