I’m not sure this year would’ve been possible without that year. I don’t know if I would’ve appreciated it as much; maybe I would’ve thought it was something I was entitled to, not even thinking about how my career could have ended at any point.
Not at all. We were friends in ‘04, when my ranking dropped to whatever it did, and we’d be friends if his ever did that, too.
It’s pretty frustrating. But you try to appreciate it for what it is: he has a good chance at being the best ever. You don’t have to hang your head too low, if you’re maybe losing to the greatest player to ever pick up a racquet.
Every sport is more globalized. In the NBA, the MVP is Canadian. It’s tougher for any one country to dominate. We have two guys in the top 10, so to expect a lot more is possibly unfair.
