For the first time of the season, Agnieszka Radwanska lost to someone not named Victoria Azarenka. (Getty Images)

ROME — Upsets and near-upsets dominated the news Wednesday in the second round of the Italian Open, where Serena Williams survived but John Isner, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki all tumbled out of the last significant lead-up tournament to the French Open.

A boisterous Italian crowd watched hometown favorite Andrea Seppi knock off Isner 2-6, 7-6 (5) 7-5 at the Foro Italico’s Court Pietrangeli. The picturesque court, which is sunk into the ground and surrounded by marble statues, has fast become my favorite non-Slam No. 3 venue because of the noisy atmosphere it generates. Add in the presence of an Italian like Seppi, and any player would feel like he’s playing a Davis Cup match.

(UPDATE: Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the Italian Open with a shoulder injury.)

Isner was understandably devastated after a second straight early departure. The 27-year-old American saved 11 consecutive break points before finally dropping serve at 5-5 in the third set, a break that proved decisive. Unless he takes a wild card into next week’s tournament in Nice, France, Isner will head into Roland Garros with only one victory from tune-up tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Not great for a guy whose confidence on European clay was soaring only a month ago.

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Sloane Stephens, 19, has steadily improved and beat a former top-five player in Rome on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

ROME — Sloane Stephens has never been allergic to Europe’s red clay, and why should she be? A speedy athlete with enough power to get the ball through the court, Stephens has had some of her best results in Europe. Her sole professional title was at an ITF event in Reggio Emelia in Italy last year, which paved the way for her successful qualifying campaign at the French Open.

“Roland Garros is my favorite tournament,” Stephens told SI.com at the Italian Open. “I love Paris.”

Another woman who loves Paris is Serena Williams, and the two bonded while in Ukraine for Fed Cup in April. Asked whether she would get a chance to see Serena’s famed apartment in Paris, Stephens said she wasn’t sure. “I’m not allowed into her residence until I’m 21,” Stephens deadpanned. “So I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I think that’s better for all of us.”

She’s probably right.

Now ranked No. 92 and likely to crack the top 80 after this week, Stephens — whose player credential reads “Skane Stephens” in Rome — won’t have to qualify for the French Open and she’s had some good preparation so far. She’s made it through qualifying in both Estoril and Rome, and on Tuesday she knocked off former world No. 5 Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 for her first main draw win on clay this year. Stephens fell to Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday.

SI.com sat down with Stephens after Tuesday’s victory and fired off some questions from our Q&A bag while the 20-year-old American noshed on paella in the players’ dining area. “I think it’s the food here that makes you play good,” she said. Rome definitely treated her well.

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The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.

• Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova launch Head’s “Golden Ticket”-style contest in a new commercial.

• Marion Bartoli, tells Tennis Channel that once the Olympics are over, she’s prepared to unleash a “big war” on the French tennis federation. The FFT has refused to give Bartoli an exemption to play the Olympics because she’s refused to play Fed Cup.

“The Olympics is last thing the [FFT] has and they can play their cards into the Olympics, but after that it’s going to be hard on them because then it’s my turn to criticize them,” she said. “For 15 years I have not been saying anything, but after the Olympics it’s going to be the start of a really big war, trust me.”

• Kamakshi Tandon has a great summary of the increased cattiness amongst the top women of the WTA and she makes a great point: The last few years have been defined by feel good stories (look at the Slam winners) and nice girl platitudes. That’s out the window now and I have to say, while it’s not necessarily better or worse for the sport, it sure does keep things interesting.

It’s been almost like the good old days (or bad old days) of bitter rivalries like Serena Williams-Justine Henin, Henin-Kim Clijsters, Serena-Sharapova, Ivanovic-Jankovic. The tension-filled triangle could meet again this week in Rome, with Azarenka and Radwanska drawn for yet another potential semifinal meeting, and Sharapova possibly waiting in the final for whoever wins. There are plenty of other contenders in the draw — including last week’s Madrid champ Williams — but no one has traded groundstrokes, or words, like the top trio so far this season.

• Serena Williams joins Ryan Lochte and Hope Solo on the cover of Vogue.

• Frederik Nielsen takes issue with people dismissing Sam Groth’s 263 km/h serve — the fastest serve recorded — just because it was at a Challenger event. Nielsen’s point is well-taken, but he’ll have to forgive a bit of skepticism when calibrated guns record Ana Ivanovic serving one at 288 km/h in Rome. Yeah, machines can’t always be trusted, SkyNet taught us that.

• Thoughts on Novak Djokovic’s new kit? It’s very Serby.

• Non-tennis: Here are 11 awesome mascots from the NBA. Bango the Buck and his sidekick might take the cake.

See or read something that you enjoyed and want to share? Feel free to email or tweet us links to pieces from around the Internet that may have slipped past our radar.

The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.

• Roger Federer gives his wife, Mirka, a Mother’s Day kiss as his twin daughters look on. “Ewwww … quit it, mom and dad!” the invisible thought bubble says.

• Lleyton Hewitt hopes to return at the French Open after making a speedy recovery from foot surgery. Hewitt will try to extend his streak of consecutive years making the third round to a remarkable 11th straight year, but one wonders if he’d be better off resting and training for Wimbledon.

• A few final hits from Madrid: Steve Tignor and Christopher Clarey offer their final thoughts on Madrid’s blue clay, and I missed this quote from Federer the first time around because I was on a plane:

“If you want to be a good claycourt player, you must be able to play everywhere. Madrid has taken a gamble with blue clay. It’s always a little different here because of the altitude and we must sit down with the other players to discuss it. It is slippy, there’s no doubt about that but that has been the case here for a few years. They haven’t yet found the perfect balance. Our job each day is to adapt to the conditions that we face.”

• Longtime tournament manager Charlie Pasarell is stepping down from his management position at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He’ll leave the tournament in the experienced hands of Steve Simon and Raymond Moore. And yes, don’t panic: Larry Ellison is still involved.

• Peter Bodo wonders if there are too many Masters events and whether that’s going to be a problem as the sport continues to grow.

• Nice photo recap of Monday’s action in Rome. The text is in Italian, but the pictures are universal.

• The Bryans are snapped by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue.

• A gallery of pics of the WTA’s publicity efforts in Rome over the weekend.

• Non-tennis: Bookmarked blog: The Worst Things For Sale.

See or read something that you enjoyed and want to share? Feel free to email or tweet us links to pieces from around the Internet that may have slipped past our radar.

After capturing the Madrid Open title, Roger Federer hasn’t announced whether he will play in the Italian Open. (Getty Images)

ROME — If you can believe it, we’re one week away from the start of the French Open (qualifying begins May 22nd) and it’s only now that we’ll get to see (hopefully) a full ATP and WTA field go at it on the traditional European red clay. The Internazionali BNL D’Italia is already underway in Rome, where tournament organizers are waiting with bated breath to see if Roger Federer will withdraw from the tournament. The newly crowned Madrid champ landed in Rome on Monday, but says he’ll wait to make a decision after he gets a couple of days rest.

If Federer’s body is feeling the ill-effects from Madrid — his first tournament since losing to Andy Roddick in Miami — then it makes sense not to risk his health this close to the French Open. But that would mean his only preparation for the French would be a quasi-indoor tournament on blue clay that bears no resemblance, in color or play, to the dirt in Paris. That’s a tough calculus to make, but I’d be surprised to see him skip Rome. If Federer does play then we’ll have the top four into a draw for the first time since Miami.

Men’s draw breakdown

Djokovic’s half: Novak said coming back to the red clay in Rome after the calamity of Madrid “felt like paradise.”  The Italians love him here and why wouldn’t they? He has an Italian clothing sponsor and he’s fluent in the native language as well. The defending champion has drawn Federer in his half, along with Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Janko Tipsarevic and John Isner. Del Potro and Tsonga are scheduled for a third round clash and if Isner can put together a string of wins, he could face Federer in the quarterfinals in a rematch of their Davis Cup match. Keep an eye on John. He needs to make a statement here after a disappointing loss in his first match in Madrid.

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Rafael Nadal fell to No. 3 in the rankings after a third-round loss to Fernando Verdasco in Madrid. (Getty Images)

ROME — Rafael Nadal trails Roger Federer in the rankings for the first time in nearly two years, having dropped to No. 3 after his third-round loss in Madrid to Fernando Verdasco. It’s the first time Nadal has been ranked No. 3 since May 10, 2010, but the Spaniard isn’t fazed.

“To arrive with No. 2 or No. 3 is not going to change my goal,” Nadal said after arriving here for the Italian Open. “The goal is the same if you are No. 2, No. 3 or No. 10. If you are No. 3 or No. 2, you have to win. It doesn’t really change the semifinals. You have to win against the best, even if you are No. 2 or No. 3. Doesn’t make a big difference.”

Nadal returned home to Mallorca after losing in Madrid to spend time with his family and partake in his favorite hobby, fishing. Now back to work, Nadal said he’s not concerned about the momentary drop. As he pointed out, he’s only 115 points behind Federer and 570 points behind Novak Djokovic in the Race rankings, which measure a player’s performance in the calendar year as opposed to the regular rankings, which track performance over the last 52 weeks. For Nadal, it’s all about the Race rankings.

“I really don’t know much about the [rankings] — seriously — but the Race says what you have been doing since the beginning of the season,” Nadal said. “When I start the year in January, I understand that like a league — a soccer league — you start and finish and the ranking is there but the Race is when you know how you are doing. The Race is the real points that you are playing. That is the only thing that I follow, the Race. You start from zero and finish your season at No. 6, No. 2., No. 1, No. 5 and then you come back to zero. That is the way I understand the sport.”

Serena Williams is 13-0 on clay this year, with titles in Madrid and Charleston. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Report Card hands out grades for the week in tennis. This past week, Roger Federer continued his stellar year, Serena Williams fired up a flare for all to see and Madrid’s blue clay dominated the headlines.

Madrid Open: B-plus. For all of the drama, the tournament actually turned out to be highly entertaining. In fact, I wouldn’t mind this nutty surface if it were used outside of the lead-up period for the French Open. It yielded fast, aggressive, first-strike tennis, which was refreshing given the trend toward slowing down courts around the world. But as I said last week, players shouldn’t be forced to play this style on these substandard courts in advance of Roland Garros.

Serena Williams: A. Let’s look at her record on clay this year: two titles (her only titles), 5-0 on green clay, 2-0 on red clay and 6-0 on blue clay. All the while she insists that clay is actually her favorite surface, even preferring it over grass. Sure, the blue and green clay aren’t substitutes for the true European red clay at the French Open, and her red-clay wins were at Fed Cup over two players ranked outside the top 100. But she has beaten Sam Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka on clay this year, and her 6-1, 6-3 destruction of No. 1 Azarenka in the Madrid final sent a startling and simple message: I’m back.

Roger Federer: A. Federer collected his Tour-leading fourth title of the year and record-tying 20th Masters trophy, and climbed to No. 2 in the rankings for the first time since March 2011. Oh, and Federer staked his claim to the label of G.O.A.T. on Blue Clay (hey, it’s a thing). This week marks the first time since May 2010 that Federer is ranked ahead of Nadal, and he should send Novak Djokovic a basket of muffins for helping him do it. Djokovic’s 2011 domination of Nadal helped Federer close the point gap, and the 30-year-old Swiss did the rest: Federer is 45-3 with seven titles since his semifinal loss to Djokovic at the 2011 U.S. Open.

Tomas Berdych: A. The Czech didn’t drop a set until the final and he looked at home on the blue clay, taking advantage of his big game on the quick surface to dominate Gael Monfils and Fernando Verdasco and edge Juan Martin del Potro in two tiebreakers. (He even posted New Order’s Blue Monday on his Facebook page mid-week.) With a semifinal appearance in Monte Carlo and runner-up finish in Madrid, he’s rounding into form nicely for the French Open.

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Recently retired Ivan Ljubicic took to Twitter over the weekend to call out the American men for skipping the European clay-court season. Mardy Fish has been sidelined since Houston with an illness that forced him out of Davis Cup due to extreme fatigue, and Andy Roddick is still healing and protecting the hamstring injury that he sustained at the Australian Open. That didn’t stop Ljubicic, who offered this rhetorical (?) question:

Wonder how our tour would look if european players were skipping American tourneys the way Americans are skipping european tournamets—
Ivan Ljubicic (@IvanLjubicic1) May 12, 2012

As expected, the Americans didn’t hesitate to respond in kind:

@IvanLjubicic1 Pretty sure mardy fish is sick—
John Isner (@JohnIsner) May 12, 2012

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The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.

• In case you missed it over the weekend, here are the highlights from Serena Williams’ win over Victoria Azarenka in the Madrid final. Come for the ridiculous forehand winner in a point that starts at the 0:55 mark, stay for the hilarious side-glare Serena shoots at the unfortunate-looking trophy at the 2:50 mark.

• Will Smith was at the Madrid final and Roger Federer was at the Men in Black 3 premiere, and both events took place at the Caja Magica. You win, Madrid. I give up.

• Vesna Dolonts is now playing under the Serbian flag.

• Novak Djokovic opens up about losing his grandfather:

“In my childhood when I was in Serbia he took me a lot of times to practice, we went together in the trams in public transportation. Whenever I would lose he would say, ‘You’re not sad, right?’ I’d say, ‘No, no I’m not sad,’ even though I was. He would say, ‘Don’t be sad. Come on, it’s just one match. You play so many matches. Life goes on’.”

• Serena says the men are “weenies” for complaining about the blue clay all week. But the best part is Reuters feeling the need to define “weenies” for its readers:

Dictionary.com lists several definitions of “weenie” including “an insignificant, disliked person” or “a stupid and inept male”.

• Madrid tournament owner Ion Tiriac and tournament director Manolo Santana were jeered heavily when they stepped on court for both trophy presentations on Sunday.

• Australian pro Sam Groth, ex-husband to Jarmila Gajdosova and currently ranked No. 340, fired the fastest recorded serve at 263 kilometers per hour (about 163 mph) in a Challenger event in South Korea. That serve broke the previous record held by Ivo Karlovic by a whopping 6 mph.

• Non-tennis: If you didn’t see the end of Sunday’s soccer game between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers, you missed what may have been the greatest five minutes in the history of the English Premier League. Man City needed to win to clinch the Premier League title. Down a goal with five minutes of extra time, this happened. How can you not love sports?

See or read something that you enjoyed and want to share? Feel free to email or tweet us links to pieces from around the Internet that may have slipped past our radar.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams, born seven weeks apart in 1981, are showing no signs of slowing down. (Susana Vera/Reuters; Juan Carlos Hidalgo/EPA)

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Roger Federer recaptured the No. 2 ranking from Rafael Nadal with his 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Tomas Berdych, and Serena Williams recaptured the right to wave her index finger in the air with a decisive 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in Madrid. Here are five thoughts on the Madrid Open finals, where two resilient champions showed just why they’re the greatest male and female players of their generation.

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