‘“As we got closer and closer, I know for myself and I’m sure for Brandon as well as (team owners) Terry and Kim (Pegula), there was a sense of responsibility as we got closer to that mark to do everything that we could to get there,” McDermott said. “Not that we weren’t before, but there were certain boxes we needed to check, we felt like, for our foundation – to get certain things right in the first year. Winning was one of them, we just didn’t know – you never know – how soon it’s going to happen when you’re trying to get the core of the situation better.”’