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

• Video: Check out Serena Williams’ champagne celebration in Rome.

• Rafael Nadal says he never expected this kind of success — six titles in eight tournaments this year — after a seven-month layoff. Peter Bodo begs to differ.

He’s got this streak of humility that is beginning to look nothing less than bizarre, and it looks as though he’s going to cling to it no matter what the record books or scoreboards say. Who else would have reacted the way he did after Nadal won his sixth title of year and his back-to-back Masters in Rome?

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Seriously — was anyone surprised that Nadal, who has been virtually unbeatable on clay throughout his career, returned to the tour this winter after his eight-month layoff and picked up right where he left off? Nadal also added: “To win three Master 1000s and two ATP 500 tournaments is more than I ever dreamed.”

Oh, please. Enough with the drama and humble protestations. Rafa is starting to sound like that gazillionaire who pleads abject poverty even as he’s adding a few million to his bank account with a 10-minute stock trade. I’m not going to question Nadal’s sincerity, but there’s something patently cuckoo about this degree of humility when it comes to his performance and record on clay.

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Screengrab from TennisTV

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

• Photo: Maria Sharapova wishes boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov a happy 22nd birthday after beating Sloane Stephens in Rome on Thursday night. Sharapova has withdrawn from the tournament with a viral illness.

• Awful Announcing summarizes ESPN’s reported 11-year, $770 million deal for exclusive rights to the U.S. Open beginning in 2015. When CBS ends its run with the U.S. Open in 2014, the only Grand Slam tournament on broadcast television will be the French Open on NBC.

In a conference call with tennis and media reporters, officials from the United States Tennis Association were asked if they felt moving to ESPN and a potentially smaller audience would hurt the Open. However, the USTA and ESPN President John Skipper noted how the audiences for cable are matching and in some cases surpassing the broadcast networks. And while it wasn’t stated, ESPN is hoping that obtaining more championship events will prevent cable subscribers from cutting the cord.

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

• Video: Martina Hingis talks about her new coaching role with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

• Grigor Dimitrov, Ryan and Christian Harrison, Bernard Tomic, Ricardas Berankis and David Goffin get fashionable for a photo shoot in Men’s Journal.

• Andy Murray, who said he’s doubtful for Roland Garros, will prioritize Wimbledon over the French Open, according to his mother, Judy.

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

• Video: Incredible impressions of the Big Four.

• Jimmy Connors says the much-celebrated rivalries in today’s game are “soft” compared with those of the 1970s.

“The game now is what it is,” he said. “I’ve been criticized for saying it, but the rivalries are soft. I can only compare it to what I did. To me, they were real, not only on the court but off the court, too. I don’t see Mac [John McEnroe] coming up and putting his arm around me and consoling me.

“Maybe it’s because tennis has become such big business, that they’re all making their fair share. Back in my day, it was all about the winning. But now, sometimes there are guys who get their success at the end of the year by the size of their bank account, as opposed to the number of titles that they win.”

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

• Video: The ATP counts down the top Madrid Hot Shots. But how about the top-10 play calls? Not much can beat Robbie Koenig’s “Oh! That’s pure box office from [Grigor] Dimitrov!”

• The headline says it all: Jimmy Connors Shouldn’t Be Talking About Chris Evert’s Abortion.

• Is Taylor Townsend the next great American tennis star? Slow down, folks. Give her some time.

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

• Video: Adios, Madrid. Thanks for the memories.

• The Sixth Set recaps the best (worst?) player/umpire arguments at the Madrid Open.

• Travel tips from Rafael Nadal.

If the plane moves, some turbulence, I am nervous flyer. My hands start to sweat and I know to relax (I have) to listen to music, to try to watch some films.

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Maria Sharapova could face Serena Williams in the Madrid final. (Photo via @TennisTV)

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

• Photo: Maria Sharapova on Friday appeared to have a message for the paparazzi who caught her and boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov cuddling on the streets of Madrid: How did you catch us? Nice to see she’s good-humored about it. Sharapova beat Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-4 in the Madrid Open quarterfinals to extend her clay winning streak to 20.

• More interesting comments from Sloane Stephens in The Boston Globe taken from an interview during Indian Wells. Who knew Twitter could cause such a ruckus?

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

• Video: Andy Murray answers some questions posed to him by some of his tourmates, including Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon. Stick it out to the end. You’re going to have to clear your own plates, Novak.

• It was bound to happen: Maria Sharapova and Grigor Dimitrov get papped walking the streets of Madrid snuggling. So yes, it’s official.

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

• Video: An emotional Grigor Dimitrov thanks “my girlfriend” for some key words before he took the court to upset Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday. Come on, Grigor, you gotta tell us what Maria Shara… — I mean, “your girlfriend” — said.

• Laura Robson has reportedly split with coach Zeljko Krajan. Robson beat fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1 in the second round in Madrid on Monday without Krajan by her side.

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John McEnroe cheers on the Rangers, who haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1994. (Will Schneekloth/Icon SMI)

• Photo: John McEnroe was at Madison Square Garden on Monday to cheer on the New York Rangers as they beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

• What is John Tomic’s future? The calls for a lifetime ban have come quickly, and it’s clear that no one is giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Tomic senior won a virtual lottery 20 years ago when his son Bernard was born in Germany.

That windfall ballooned to multi-million dimensions as Bernard climbed to international tennis prominence.

Hefty sponsorship deals, Tennis Australia’s monetary largesse and prizemoney – all earned by his son – have seen John Tomic, a former taxi driver, taken for the ride of his life.

Yet, at almost every turn, he has marked himself as a bully and an ingrate.

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