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

• As the players prepare for the blue clay in Madrid next week, an enterprising fan has decided to give this tournament promo video the Jimmy Kimmel “Unnecessary Censorship” treatment. Tell us how you really feel about the blue clay, guys!

• Prince — the racket maker, not the musical genius with the perfectly groomed thinstache — has filed for bankruptcy. The company, which sponsors John Isner, Gael Monfils and Mike and Bob Bryan, says it has more than $100 million in assets and debt and will look to reorganize. Per Bloomberg News:

Decline in market demand “combined with increased competition over the past five years” and a decrease in “consumer discretionary spending” led to the bankruptcy, said Gordon Boggis, chief executive officer, in court papers.

• Andrea Petkovic, who is out at least three months with torn ligaments in her ankle, is ready to fight her way back from yet another setback — though the injury-plagued German admits she’s getting tired of having to do so.

• Serena Williams is hawking a sleep aid as co-owner of the company Take a Sheet. So does this mean no more depressing 3 a.m. tweets about how boys suck? That would be unfortunate. Williams told the The Huffington Post, “I’m not a sleeper. I’m kind of like my dad, never slept much. I can really go off of five hours of sleep, but obviously that’s not healthy.”

• Speaking of Serena and boys, she says her last breakup (with Common? Drake?) left her so heartbroken that she’s sworn off dating for the next 10 years.

• Andy Roddick’s wife, Brooklyn Decker, says she wants to adopt a child with special needs.

• Who’s No. 1? Penn is suing Dunlop for claiming it’s the “world’s No. 1 ball.”

• Non-tennis: Some people want to focus on the remarkable fact that this golden retriever stands guard over his owner’s bike. I would like to point out to those people that at the end of the video THE DOG MOUNTS THE BIKE.

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

• The first portion of Maria Sharapova’s postmatch interview after winning the Stuttgart title Sunday is pretty straightforward. But wait for the one-minute mark, when Sharapova lets her guard down a bit. Winning a Porsche will do that.

• I really can’t say enough about the quality display by Sharapova and Sam Stosur in their quarterfinal, which the Russian won 6-7 (5) 7-6 (4) 7-5. Here’s the match in its entirety, though if you don’t have three hours to spare, here’s the highlight reel. Even the latter is 23 minutes long. That’s how great this match was.

• The ATP site has a nice Q&A with Brian Baker, who won the Savannah Challenger over the weekend to earn a French Open wild card.

• Peter Bodo compares Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic by the numbers.

• Here’s Andy Murray in an interview with Sport magazine: “I’d be disappointed [if I don't reach the last four at a Grand Slam], but very few people can say they’re in the top four in the world at what they do. You wouldn’t view the fourth-best businessman in the world as a failure.”

• Tennis matches streaming on Facebook? Get ready for it.

• If you’re like me and you’ve always dreamed of the day you could see Juan Martin del Potro ride a bike, well, today is your lucky day.

• Non-tennis: I hope your Monday is going better than this kid’s.

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

• I’m still trying to figure out how Rafael Nadal hit that backhand flick on Thursday.

• Roger Federer gave some exclusive interviews to a select group of reporters in Switzerland on Thursday. Here’s the (approved) English translation of his interview with Federer biographer, Rene Stauffer.

“To get back to No. 1 would indeed be a crowning moment, absolutely, it would be incredible. Therefore I’m doing everything for it and played more tournaments.”

• Seann William Scott and Andy Roddick are virtual twins and Scott is totally going to roll with it.

“I was in Seville and I didn’t know that he was staying at the same hotel and I love the guy – I don’t know him but I think he’s a great tennis player – I had a big group of people, (shouting) ‘Andy Roddick, Andy Roddick’ coming up to me. I was so blown away they weren’t calling me (American Pie character) Stifler I’m like, ‘I’m gonna ride this Andy Roddick thing for a while’, sign Andy Roddick’s name for like an hour!”

• Christina McHale will play the New Haven Open, but surprisingly, four-time champion Caroline Wozniacki, who is 18-0 in New Haven (and 1-0 in public makeout sessions) has yet to confirm.

• Congratulations to James Blake and his fiancée, who are expecting a baby.

• Speaking of babies, congratulations are in order for Cara Black and her husband, who welcomed baby boy Lachlan into the world on Thursday in Melbourne.

• A CNN profile on Victoria Azarenka, wherein she dons a chef’s hat and cooks some fish.

• Non-tennis: This is the best picture you’ll see in a while.

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• Svetlana Kuznetsova said she was trying her best not to focus on the score in her Fed Cup rubber against Ana Ivanovic. She succeeded. Click to the 4:43 mark in the above video, where Kuznetsova has no idea she’s won match point and the match is over. Don’t ever change, Sveta.

• Bad news for the Serena Williams and Maria Sharapovas of the world: The ITF is changing its Olympic rules for the 2016 games, doubling the number of ties a player must make themselves available for in order to secure eligibility.

Now it’s plain that the reason the ITF is doing this is because they want more players, especially top players, to play Fed Cup (and Davis Cup, since this applies to both), in future. And that’s hardly a surprise as they are the ITF’s flagship events. The WTA reportedly remains committed to the Fed Cup but believes the format of the competition needs to change in order to keep it relevant, while the long-term health of the players is also a concern.

• Matt Cronin laments the fact that the ATP tournament in San Jose is leaving, and he suspects the players who have competed there will miss it as well.

When John McEnroe beat Jimmy Connors for the 1982 title at the Cow Palace, it meant a hell of a lot to him and I’m sure he recalls it.  When Ivan Lendl got over McEnroe the next year, you can bet it mattered. When Michael Chang won his first title there in ‘88, or Brad Gilbert won in front of his home fans in ‘89, those are the moments that stick with player. Any time that the “Fab 4” of Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Chang played for blood in the Bay Area, those matches etched into wall space of their rivalries.

• The ATP site breaks down the changes in Rafael Nadal’s serve and forehand in his win against Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo.

• Chris Evert joined the latest SI.com Tennis Podcast with Jon Wertheim. It’s worth a listen.

• Non-tennis: If you hire Batman for your kid’s birthday, don’t get the Christopher Nolan one.

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

• Roger Federer has a new commercial for Jura coffee and it’s all about precision. But honestly, I’d love to see a feature on the making of the video to see the construction of that coffee court. That must have taken Roger hours.

• Sam Stosur had some surprisingly strong things to say about the blue clay in Madrid. I’ve never heard her so critical.

“I don’t think the courts in Madrid are that great anyway. If they have changed how the courts play, as well as the color, and the courts play better, that’s great. But if they have changed the color, and the courts still play the same, that’s pointless.”

• Ravi Ubha catches up with Ana Ivanovic, the anti-Diva, who longs for a quiet life and sounds pretty sick and tired of people criticizing her coaching changes over the years. But the most interesting comment was her acknowledgment that she wouldn’t want her kids to go into tennis. The grind of the tour is tough and it’s not something she wishes on anyone else.

“To know your kids sort of would be going through that, and maybe going through that with them, it’s not really thrilling,” Ivanovic said. “But I will support them in whatever they do.”

• The Legg Mason tournament in Washington D.C. has a new title sponsor in Citibank, and they unveiled a host of changes on Tuesday.

The tournament will remain at Washington’s William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park. But the venue will be expanded to include a new 2,500-seat show court and five new practice courts, with both projects targeted for completion by the start of this summer’s tournament July 28.

• Inspired by Caroline Wozniacki’s “Oxygen” video, here some other tennis players’ forays into music. Never has the phrase “don’t quit your day job” been more applicable. Yeesh!

• I’m not sure I understand what Fila is trying to do to Vera Zvonareva in these new kits. It’s Vertigo meets Jackson Pollack.

• Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges have tried to rock a Bryan Brothers’ quality chest bump when they play doubles. It doesn’t seem to work out very well. Ever.

• Non-tennis: People who don’t know how to spell “cologne”.

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• Hard to believe that in her 11 years on tour, Maria Sharapova has never played Stuttgart. She talks about what it’s like to be at an unfamiliar tournament, where they apparently make you take pictures with muslin curtains. Yeah, I don’t know either.

• While a lot of the hype and excitement surrounding John Isner is justified, do we really think he’s a medal threat at the Olympics? Isner’s never made it past the second round at Wimbledon, which is pretty understandable. Unlike clay and hardcourts, the ball just doesn’t bounce high enough on grass to consistently land in Isner’s strike-zone.

• On the same day that news hit of two American tournaments (the ATP’s San Jose event and Memphis’ WTA event) relocating to South America, a study revealed that the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati brought in $62.5 million into the local economy.

• It’s hard to explain the special place Jelena Jankovic occupies in the world of the tennis fan. She is befuddling, a little bit ridiculous, and loves the glow of the spotlight. And we love her for it. WTA Backspin takes a look at her Fed Cup leadership which has — somewhat improbably — brought the Serbs into the finals. It captures perfectly why she’s a cult hero.

You see, when the a-little-bit-crazy-but-we-love-her-for-it Serb is in “high gear,” banging off the walls and leaving a trail of tears (from laughing so hard) behind her it’s akin to flowing rivers turning into applesauce and trees suddenly transforming into pretzel sticks. And if that makes absolutely no sense – and why would it? – then that’s all right. When JJ is in top form, nothing ever really does.

But now she’s in the Fed Cup Final, with one more (and maybe her final?) shot at a career-defining moment that would complete the cycle of her career-long, oddball quest to become an honest-to-goodness tennis folk hero. Sure, the Serbs won’t be favored on the road against the Czechs. But what good are odds when immortality is at stake?

• Here are the social media guidelines for competitors and credentialed media at the London Olympics. It’s a weird read. The guidelines state that athletes must tweet or blog in a “first-person, diary-type format and should not be in the role of a journalist – i.e. they must not report on competition or comment on the activities of other participants or accredited persons.” That’s going to make for some very boring tweets.

• The things you can find on YouTube: Not one, not  two, not three, but four videos of Andrea Petkovic doing regular things in a match. Creepy or funny?

• Non-tennis: These are absolutely the best engagement/wedding photos ever.

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

• You don’t see a lot of courtside shirt changes in women’s tennis. Then again, you don’t see a lot of Andrea Petkovics either. Introducing: The Petko Strip. Petkovic returned to competition over the weekend in Stuttgart, Germany, losing to Sam Stosur in Fed Cup before teaming with Julia Goerges to win the doubles rubber. Australia won the tie 3-2.

• The top guys aren’t entirely on board with Madrid’s decision to use blue clay. As a Masters 1000 played in altitude a week before Rome, Rafael Nadal is concerned about the players’ preparation for Roland Garros. Said Novak Djokovic:

“As far as I know, most of the top players I talked to, nobody agreed. I never played on blue clay. Rafa didn’t. Roger (Federer) didn’t. If you don’t have the top players agreeing on that, it doesn’t make sense for me really. … It’s going to be interesting to step on the blue clay obviously. I’m not blaming them … But definitely there is a certain rule within the ATP that the president is able to make decisions by himself without having players agree to that. That rule has to be changed because it’s not fair.”

• Russia blames an unfit Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for its loss to Serbia. “Pavlyuchenkova didn’t have the fitness, the decline was clearly visible, you could see it,” Russian coach Vladimir Kamelzon said. “She couldn’t compete with opponents like that.”

• Congratulations to Sam Querrey, who won the $100,000 Sarasota Open on Sunday.

• Despite not playing last week, Mardy Fish, Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner all shuffled in the rankings. Fish is back up to No. 9, Del Potro to No. 10 and Isner drops to No. 11. Blame the Olympics, which has reshuffled the schedule so that last year’s weekly points are being dropped at different times of the year.

• Caroline Wozniacki towered over Rory McIlroy at the races on Friday.

• The ups and downs of Petra Kvitova: Watch as Kvitova double-faults while serving for the match to give Sara Errani two break points on Saturday, and then proceeds to play four scintillating points to close the match. Only Petra.

• Well, we have our first two names for the women’s Olympic draw:

The ITF has confirmed that Stephanie Vogt of Liechtenstein and Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay have been awarded Tripartite Commission Invitation places to compete at the All England Club, Wimbledon, from 28 July.

• Sir David Frost does a 30-minute interview with Andy Murray in Monte Carlo, and gets the world No. 4 to open up about his parents’ divorce, potential wedding plans and the mental side of the game.

• A great collection of pictures (as usual) from all the weekend’s Fed Cup action here and here.

• Non-tennis: The best of journalism: 101 Spectacular Non-Fiction Stories, as curated by the Byliner’s Conor Friedersdorf. Bookmark and never complain that there’s nothing good to read on the Internet.

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

• Very cute video of Victoria Azarenka playing the Orange Bowl at 13 years old. Check out that crazy service action and note the silence.

• Here’s a description of what went down at the always fun and surprisingly cross-dressy Monte Carlo player’s party. Unfortunately it’s in Italian. But there are pictures and from what I can gather, Novak Djokovic impersonated Rory McIlroy, Ivan Dodig’s coach Martin Stepanek did an impression of Rafael Nadal (much to Rafa’s amusement), Frederico Gil put on a dress and grunted his way through a Victoria Azarenka impression, Oliver Marach played Maria Sharapova and Rohan Boppana has a Serena Williams impersonation up his sleeve. Oh, and something about Thomaz Bellucci in a bunny costume. Yeah, it’s all very confusing.

• Matt Cronin is absolutely right in blasting the Hall of Fame voters for not voting in Yevgeny Kafelnikov. In addition to career accomplishments that are far superior than some previous inductees, Kafelnikov was instrumental in the development of Russian tennis, inspiring an entire generation of Marat Safins and Maria Sharapovas to pick up a racket.

But it has been my suspicion since I became a voter both in the Current Players category and then later in the Masters and Contributors category, that there are too many folks who are selected to vote who do not take their role seriously enough, or who should have never been picked in the first place because they don’t bother to follow the sport as intently as they should, or they let their personal biases get in the way of what should be a calculated, fairly objective vote. Rating a player’s career should not be seen as a popularity contest.

• Andrea Petkovic is back on court hitting in Stuttgart, getting slap happy with Julia Goerges.

• Laura Robson is in search of a coach. Predilection for happy-pants is a plus.

• Welcome to ESPN, John McEnroe. He’ll be in the booth for the network’s coverage of Wimbledon.

• Here’s a fun roundup of the Fed Cup fashions. I think giving an “F” to Team USA was generous. Also, I never get sick of seeing the entire German team decked out in black leather. It works for them.

• Non-tennis: Here’s a video of a baby doing pullups. Happy weekend, everyone!

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By C.W. Sesno, SI.com

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

• Which of Rafael Nadal’s seven straight wins in Monte Carlo is your favorite? Also, I miss his sleeveless days.

• Ripping the tennis calendar has become a popular fad. But ESPN’s Ed McGrogan makes some compelling cross-sport comparisons suggesting it could be a lot worse. NASCAR has the Chase for the Cup, but its biggest race, Daytona 500, isn’t even a part of the Chase. Golf has the FedEx Cup, which just hasn’t caught on among casual fans and hardcores alike. He even goes on to say that the NHL playoffs and NCAA hoops tournament, while widely popular, undermine the regular seasons (to wit: More than half the NHL teams make the playoffs).

Tennis, by contrast, spreads the wealth with its quartet of Slams, each managing to inspire a playofflike atmosphere. And with the sport’s harebrained 10-plus-month-long schedule, that’s a good thing. I’m not sure anything in a single season is worth that long a wait. It’s worked out well, with these four powerful attractions generating widespread interest in the game during the winter and summer months. Yes, some finality would be nice, but the exquisitely crafted fabric of tennis is too beautiful to tear.

To me, tennis manages to strike a fine balance with its calendar, which contains elements of a “regular season” and “playoff” without some of their negatives. There is always room for improvement, and tennis’ schedule is oft-maligned for good reason — primarily because there’s no time to breathe. But having just watched March Madness, and currently enjoying the NHL playoffs while avoiding the MLB regular season, I realized that tennis might not have it so bad after all.

• Steve Tignor has an interesting take on the balance of natural talent vs. originality and genius when it comes to the most useful talent for a clay court player. A few aspiring players often come to mind in this discussion, Bernard Tomic and Alex Dolgopolov, whose unique styles of play separate them from the standard baseline bashers. But does it come at a cost?

Tomic and Dolgopolov have qualities of original genius, and Dimitrov is as smooth as they come. But are original talents useful ones? For every player touched by genius who reaches No. 1 — I’d put John McEnroe and Roger Federer in that category — there are plenty who never get close, perhaps because it comes too easily to them.

Perhaps, also, it’s because genius doesn’t get you all that much. Think about Andy Murray, another player gifted by the Hands Gods. The ever-sober Murray can do virtually anything with the ball, but he mostly chooses to play it straight and solid. Every so often, though, he’ll relax enough to do a little showing off. Up 5-0 in the first set against Viktor Troicki on Monday, Murray hit a forehand at an extreme angle, and with an extreme amount of topspin, that crossed the net and immediately dove to the court — it was a circus shot, and something I’d never seen before. Pleased with his success, Murray tried it again on the next ball, put it in the net, and yelled at himself. He must know that geniuses look cool, but you can’t count on them.

• Happy 25th birthday to Maria Sharapova. Here’s an SI.com gallery of Sharapova photos through the years.

• On The Go Tennis has a quick Q&A with Gilles Simon. We share a couple of things in common: video games and disdain for airports.

• First Maria Sharapova pranks us with a fake haircut (pretty good wig-job), now it spills out that Andy Murray’s buzz cut was unintentional. And don’t forget Svetlana Kuznetsova’s new ‘do. Sveta went badass on us.

• Galina Voskoboeva rose from outside the top 600 to the top 60 in 2011. Get to know her here.

• Things we learn from these photos: Tie-dye is back, and the Czech Fed Cup team would make a better line of mannequins than Elaine Benes.

• Non-tennis: One wouldn’t think Ron Swanson would be quick to jump on the Twitter train. Which is precisely why this video is so thoroughly enjoyable.

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

• Everyone has that weird uncle that loves harassing his nieces and nephews. But what if that uncle was Rafael Nadal? The ATP cameras caught Rafa horsing around with his young cousins before receiving a special award from tournament director Zeljko Franulovic commemorating his seven straight titles in Monte Carlo.

• False alarm: Maria Sharapova has not chopped off her golden locks. It was a wig. But in my defense, let me just say that is the best darn wig-job I’ve ever seen. Kudos to her hairdresser.

• You have to love this interview with Serena Williams for USA Today. She’s obsessed with the Olympic pins, once out-negotiated famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran, and she’d love to be a rhythmic gymnast.

“For me a gold medal is a gold medal. This sounds weird, but if I had to choose just one, I would choose my doubles one with Venus. We shared so many great moments out there. I wouldn’t trade that for a singles. I really wouldn’t. I can’t even describe the feeling. However, if I’m not getting gold in singles, I don’t want the bronze. Believe me. Please.”

• SI.com’s Bruce Jenkins has a great piece on the impact of Jennifer Capriati’s roller coaster career on the WTA Tour.

In 1994, only months after the extent of Capriati’s depravity went public, the women’s tour changed its eligibility rules, limiting the number of tournaments players aged 14-17 could enter. As the WTA presses on into the heart of the 2012 season, we see no Capriatis, Andrea Jaegers or Mirjana Lucics, not in terms of a painfully young girl in free-fall descent. It’s rare to find any teenagers in the top 100, and all of the tour’s top players are seasoned, mature women with some perspective on life. It took some very harsh lessons to reach this point, none more severe than the one absorbed by Capriati herself.

• If you watch a lot of tennis, then you are familiar with Robbie Koenig, who provides commentary for ATP matches on TennisTV and the world feed that’s typically broadcast on Tennis Channel. His enthusiasm for the sport is contagious and he’s one of my favorites. Here’s a solid profile on him.

• The French tennis federation will not grant an exemption to Marion Bartoli regarding her Olympic eligibility, which means the No. 7 player in the world won’t be allowed to compete at the London games. Peter Bodo wrote up his thoughts on the issue, and I completely agree.

The FFT has the power to issue an exemption even to that anemic demand—in other words, the ITF rules are not in any way onerous. That the FFT chose not to exempt Bartoli is startling. It’s mean. It’s vindictive. And it’s really, really stupid.

• A young Roger Federer with Jimmy Connors.

• Non-tennis (sort of): Check out this gallery of sports played in bizarre venues. Some great shots.

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