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?

…

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.

• As expected, Brian Baker will skip the French Open. He blogs about his decision for USA Today.

• After making the finals of the Italian Open, Victoria Azarenka became the 10th WTA player to surpass $20 million in career prize money. Serena leads with $44,549,390.

• Andy Murray is on the cover of the June 2013 issue of UK’s Reader’s Digest.

• Steve Tignor talks to Jimmy Connors about his autobiography, The Outsider.

What is true, thinking back on watching Jimmy in his prime, was that there was a connection, an electric current, that he could establish with an audience, with an entire stadium—sometimes the crowd loved him, sometimes it hated him, but people were caught up in the match when Connors played. I don’t think I’ve seen that, in quite the same way, with any player since.

“How do you get more people to like tennis? That’s the question I always had in mind when I played,” Connors says. “Back then, we couldn’t take for granted that there was going to be an audience for it.”

• Get to know Ricardas Berankis, one of the ATP’s up-and-comers.

• Irina Falconi is blogging about her quest to qualify for the French Open.

• Non-tennis: How a blogger ended up on The Office finale.

John Isner has won only one match during the European clay season. (Andres Kudacki/AP)

The Watch List spotlights the must-know storylines for the upcoming week in tennis. This week a flurry of Americans go for one final tune-up before the French Open, which begins Sunday.

French Open: In or out?

With the Roland Garros draw ceremony set for Friday, look for any news on withdrawals to come mid-week. Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro are the players to watch. Murray is expected to decide Wednesday whether he’ll play after re-aggravating a back injury at the Italian Open. Del Potro is questionable because of a respiratory illness. After losing in the third round in Rome, Del Potro flew home to Argentina to recover. On the women’s side, keep an eye on Venus Williams, who is struggling with a back injury. She could determine that it would be better to rest and get ready for grass, by far her best surface.

Brussels Open

[Complete Singles Draw]

Sloane Stephens headlines a U.S. contingent that also includes Varvara Lepchenko, Jamie Hampton and Madison Keys. Fellow Americans Mallory Burdette, Melanie Oudin and Coco Vandeweghe are trying to work their way through the qualifying tournament. Caroline Wozniacki, who has lost in the first round in three consecutive clay events in Europe, is the top seed. She’s been drawn into the same half as Stephens, the fourth seed.

Open de Nice Cote d’Azur

[Complete Singles Draw]

Sam Querrey and John Isner will try to build some momentum for Roland Garros in Nice, France. Querrey suffered back-to-back first-round losses at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, while Isner has won a single match in three European clay tournaments this year. Top seed Tomas Berdych’s withdrawal has left Gilles Simon, Querrey and Isner as the highest-ranked players in the field. U.S. players Ryan Harrison and USTA French Open wild card Alex Kuznetsov are in qualies.

Power Horse Cup

[Complete Singles Draw]

Janko Tipsarevic tops the field in Dusseldorf, Germany, but it’s Tommy Haas who is the one to watch. After winning the BMW Open in Munich and making the third round of the Madrid Open, Haas lost to Mikhail Youzhny in the first round in Rome. A few good wins as the No. 2 seed in Dusseldorf and he’ll have a nice head of steam heading into Roland Garros, where he reached the third round as a qualifier last year.

Internationaux de Strasbourg

[Complete Singles Draw]

Marion Bartoli has made more news for her coaching woes than for her tennis this year. The Frenchwoman, ranked 13th, has yet to beat a top-20 player or advance to a semifinal. Red clay is not her best surface, but Bartoli was a 2011 semifinalist at Roland Garros. The weak field in Strasbourg, France, may be what she needs to earn some confidence. American Christina McHale is also entered, as the sixth seed.

Rafael Nadal is aiming for his eighth French Open title beginning next week. (Gabriel Buoys/AFP/Getty Images)

ROME  – Rafael Nadal trounced Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday to win his seventh Italian Open. Nadal improved to 20-10 overall and 13-2 on clay against Federer and won his sixth title in eight tournaments this year. The Spaniard will retake the No. 4 ranking from David Ferrer on Monday and assure himself of a top-four seed at the French Open, which begins next Sunday.

Three thoughts on the King of Clay’s remarkable comeback season and his prospects for capturing a record eighth Roland Garros title:

1. Nadal’s 2013 by the numbers is mind-blowing. Just when we think we’ve seen it all, Nadal continues to achieve new heights. Since his return in February after a knee injury sidelined him for seven months, Nadal has played eight tournaments, made eight finals and won six. Nadal has said all week that he could not imagine these kinds of results when he began his comeback. Really, no one could. Even without the benefit of the massive quantities of points from playing a Grand Slam this year (Nadal skipped the Australian Open in January), the 26-year-old will move to No. 1 in the ATP’s Race to London on Monday, meaning at least according to ranking points, he’s had the best season of anyone on tour. In 38 matches, he has lost only twice. His 31 wins on clay this year is the most since 2007.

“If you tell me that four months ago, five months ago, I would tell you you are crazy,” Nadal said. “It’s just more than a dream for me. I am enjoying very emotional days and today was one of those days.”

The heavy workload hasn’t seemed to slow him down, either. After a busy February and March he’s played four tournaments in the last five weeks on European clay, peaking right before the French Open. In back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, Nadal won 10 matches in 12 days and beat three top-10 players. He’ll go into Roland Garros with six titles in a year for the first time in his career. But here’s the kicker: Despite missing two majors, the World Tour Finals, the Olympics and four ATP Masters 1000s, he’s still the No. 4-ranked player in the world.

“It’s true that I am not practicing as much as I did and I am not able to do it,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have the chance to play at the very high level, and I am doing it. At the end the mental part is more important than the other things. I am fresh mentally.”

PHOTOS: Federer-Nadal rivalry over time

2. One man can still beat Nadal on clay. If not for Novak Djokovic, I’m not sure I’d object to just giving Nadal the Coupe des Mousquetaires now. The top-ranked Djokovic is the only man I could see beating Nadal in a best-of-five format, and he’s the only one who has the game and confidence to make the Spaniard uncomfortable on his favorite surface.

But since he stunned Nadal in straight sets in the Monte Carlo final a month ago, Djokovic has won just two matches, losing to Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid and Tomas Berdych in Rome. He’s been mentally up and down but says winning Roland Garros, the only major trophy he hasn’t held, is his top priority this year. Is the Serb putting too much pressure on himself?

3. Will Nadal’s knees hold up? On one hand, Nadal is right when he insists on not talking about his knees when he’s posting such ridiculous results. I suppose he thinks it’s unfair to his opponents, akin to saying, “I, Rafael Nadal, can beat you on clay with one arm tied behind my back,” and he’s grown weary of having to give a medical update at every interview.

But that doesn’t mean the concern isn’t legitimate, especially considering how much he’s played over the last three to four months. He’ll have a few days of rest before heading to Paris, where he’ll need to prepare for the transition to the best-of-five format. If Nadal was 100 percent physically, I suspect he would just say so. The fact that he hasn’t is cause for concern.

“I said before the tournament, during the tournament, I don’t want to talk about health,” he said. “I want to talk about tennis. I am what I am and how I am today is that I was able to compete against the best players in the world and have great success. So happy about my performance today and happy about everything.”

NGUYEN: Can anyone stop Serena Williams in Paris?

Serena Williams has pounded her chief rivals in consecutive tournaments, making her the heavy favorite at the French. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

ROME — Serena Williams solidified her status as the overwhelming favorite for the French Open by defeating Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the Italian Open on Sunday. Williams extended her winning streak to a career-high 24 and capped a dominant week in which she didn’t drop a set, lost no more than four games in any of her five matches and dished out three 6-0 sets en route to her 51st career title and fourth in a row.

Williams hit winners on 41 of the 74 points she won Sunday and committed 19 unforced errors in a remarkable offensive display against the world No. 3. The 31-year-old American won the title here for the first time since 2002, the same year she won her first and only French Only title. That’s a pretty good omen.

Three thoughts on what Williams’ latest title means for her prospects at Roland Garros, which begins in a week.

• Has Williams ever looked this good going into the French Open? Well … yes. Last year she flew into Paris with a 17-match winning streak after collecting titles in Charleston, S.C., and Madrid, beating both Maria Sharapova and Azarenka in the process. It’s been much of the same for her this year and coming into Rome she said she could not possibly be more confident than she was at this time last year. But last year’s streak ended abruptly at Roland Garros, where she lost to Virginie Razzano for her first defeat in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament.

The difference this year is she’s done everything she can to destroy the demons that have plagued her on red clay throughout her career. Last week in Madrid she won her first title on red clay since the 2002 French Open and she carried that form into this week. She didn’t suffer from any of the mid-match lulls that can pop up even when she’s playing well, and she went about her business with intense calm.

Williams has been noticeably more subdued this year compared to last, acutely aware that these stats and streaks mean nothing if she doesn’t win at Roland Garros. That loss to Razzano still smarts and she’s learned her lesson. All of the cliches apply: Anything can happen on any given day; yesterday doesn’t matter today; and nothing is a given. That humility has honed her focus and in that way she’s more prepared than ever for her quest for a second French Open title.

“I was feeling excellent last year and I didn’t do great,” Williams said of the French Open. “This year I feel good, too, but I’m definitely more cautious. I feel I just want to win every point and do every shot the best I can at the French Open. And I’m going to work really hard and not slack at all and do the best I can.”

Does Williams feel pressure to win in Paris?

“I don’t feel any pressure now,” Williams said. “Maybe in the past I have. Like I’ve always said, I’ve won every Grand Slam there is to win. Maybe I’ve only won it once, but I know a lot of people who can’t say that. So for me, I don’t feel any pressure anymore.”

• Azarenka’s French Open prospects: In just her second tournament back after a seven-week layoff to rest and heal a foot injury, Azarenka did well to make the final. She survived a three-setter against Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals and came back from a break down in the second set to beat Sara Errani in the semifinals.

But the rust from her break was apparent throughout the week, both physically and in her game. She was a step slower and a little less explosive. She backed off a number of returns and mid-court balls against Williams that she would have leaned into three or four months ago, a sign of indecision.

Clay is undoubtedly her weakest surface, but Azarenka made great strides last year in making finals in Stuttgart, Germany, and Madrid, losing only to Sharapova and Williams. With a good draw, a semifinal run at the French Open isn’t out of the question.

• Stopping Serena in Paris: Williams improved to 13-2 against Sharapova with last week’s 6-1, 6-4 victory in the Madrid final and moved to 12-2 against Azarenka with Sunday’s result, and yet those two remain Serena’s chief rivals at the moment.  So if the two women directly behind her in the rankings can’t get a sniff, who else is there?

Williams’ biggest test at the French Open won’t come against the big names but against the lesser-knowns in the early rounds. Serena hasn’t made it past the quarterfinals since 2003, with losses to the likes of Stosur, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Katarina Srebotnik and Razzano. A few of those came in wet and heavy conditions, so the weather will be a factor on any given day. In the end, though, it’s all mental with Williams and perhaps her biggest challenge will be exorcising the Ghost of Virginie Razzano and simply getting past the first round. She’s the best player in the world and, as long as she plays that way for seven matches, no one can stop her.

“I think whoever I play is my biggest opponent, but I think the lady in the mirror is the ultimate opponent for me,” Williams said. “Like I said, I’m just going to be really cautious and go not for every match but literally for every point.”

Rafael Nadal’s rivalry with Roger Federer has hardly been close on clay, where Nadal sports a gaudy 12-2 record. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

ROME — Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet for the 30th time Sunday in the final of the Italian Open. Nadal cruised past Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4 in the first semifinal Saturday and Federer pulled out a scratchy win over surprise semifinalist Benoit Paire 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the evening session. It will be the first meeting in a final between the two since the 2011 French Open, where Nadal prevailed in four sets. Nadal leads the head-to-head 19-10, including a 12-2 edge on clay and 13-6 advantage in finals.

“It’s nice to have those revival moments for the both of us because we’ve had some epics, particularly in finals,” Federer said. “I’m sure we’re both looking forward to it. I clearly am.”

Federer will come into Sunday’s final as an even bigger underdog than he’s previously been on clay. Since Nadal returned in February after missing seven months with a knee injury, he has made the final of all eight tournaments he’s played (seven of which were one clay) and won five with a chance for six on Sunday. That remarkable run will propel him to No. 1 in the Race for London rankings on Monday, meaning despite spilling the first month of the season, he has accumulated more rankings points in 2013 than Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Australian Open finalist and Miami champion Andy Murray.

Nadal says he played one of his best sets of tennis in the first set against Berdych on Saturday and he’s brimming with confidence. If he wins on Sunday, Nadal will take over the No. 4 ranking and head into the French Open as the No. 4 seed.

“The first set was fantastic,” Nadal said after beating Berdych. “I think I played one of the best matches since I am back.”

While Nadal has been a runaway train upon returning to the tour, Federer’s season has yet to gain much traction. Sunday will mark his first final of the season and he’s benefited from a very soft draw. He has not faced a seed, let alone a top 15 player, beating Potito Starace, Gilles Simon, Jerzy Janowicz and Paire. Federer sprayed a surprising number of unforced errors against Paire in the semifinals, finishing with 19 winners to 26 unforced errors. That’s a winnable line against the erratic Frenchman, but it won’t be enough against Nadal.

“Rafa is a tough player for me to play against,” Federer said. “He is the best player on clay that we’ve seen in such a long time, maybe in history. I like the challenge playing against him. I’m happy I get another opportunity.”

Federer has played all four of his matches during the night sessions in Rome, where the air is markedly cooler, while Nadal has played all his matches during the day. Federer acknowledged he had a quicker turnaround for Sunday’s afternoon final but no matter of fatigue would play a role.

“He’s had a tough last couple of weeks,” Federer said. Nadal has played 19 matches on clay covering four tournaments since mid-April. Federer has played just six matches in the last two weeks. “Does that even it out a little bit? I don’t know,” Federer said. “He’s got the confidence, I’ve had the late nights. He’s played a lot. My matches are a bit easier, more straightforward. So I don’t think it’s going to play a huge role. The better man will win tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes.”

Meanwhile, the women’s final will feature a rematch of the WTA’s marquee rivalry as top-ranked Serena Williams, who is riding a career-best 23-match winning streak, will play Victoria Azarenka, the last woman to have beaten her. Both players came through their semifinals dishing bagel sets, with Williams beating Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 and Azarenka besting last year’s French Open finalist, Sara Errani, 6-0, 7-5.

Azarenka defeated Williams 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3 to win the Qatar Open in February, snapping a nine-match losing streak to the American with her first victory in the series since 2009.

“She played well in that match,” Williams said, recalling their last clash. “I was just happy to be in the final in Doha at that point. It was a really tough tournament for me. I definitely had opportunities to win and I think Victoria played really well on the big points and I didn’t.”

Despite the seemingly easy win in the semifinals over Halep, Williams was unhappy with her form and went straight to the practice court after her match. She’s cruised through the field, dropping no more than four games to any opponent and looking as dominant as she’s ever looked on clay.

Prediction: Nadal in two; Williams in two. 

Andy Murray will be the No. 3 seed at Roland Garros if he plays. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)

ROME — British media are reporting that Andy Murray has undergone a back scan in London and will make a decision on whether he will play the French Open on Wednesday, two days before the draw is to be made.

After undergoing scan in London, Andy Murray just announced he's resting & will make French Open decision on Wednesday.—
Barry Flatman (@Barry_FlatmanST) May 18, 2013

Andy Murray talking to specialists, French Open decision around Weds – sounds like nothing immediately conclusive with his scan.—
Mike Dickson (@Mike_Dickson_DM) May 18, 2013

That’s a slight step down from Murray’s ominous comments earlier in the week after he retired from his opening-round match in Rome with a back injury.

Murray, who made the French Open semifinals in 2011, revealed he had been struggling with the injury since the end of 2011 and reaggravated it on the clay, saying he would be “surprised” if he was able to get fit enough to play the French Open.

If the back scan revealed a more serious injury, it stands to reason that he would have announced his withdrawal sooner.

Roger Federer in action at the Italian Open. (Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images)

ROME – Random thoughts, observations, links and other goodies from the tennis world this week …

• I said it on Twitter and I’ll say it again: Roger Federer’s new haircut makes him look old. That said, the above photo is great.

Photos: The evolution of Federer’s hair

• It sounds like the toughest competition in Rome isn’t happening on the court, but at the gelato shops around town. “Yesterday I realized that I’m really glad I have a job because if I didn’t I’d be obese and I’d be in debt,” Maria Sharapova joked before the Italian Open. “It’s just really good that I have something to do when I wake up in the morning. Because this city is really dangerous for the diet and the wallet and yesterday was not a good day for both.”

• Serena Williams was, not surprisingly, much more colorful. I asked after her quarterfinal win whether she’d be taking a souvenir home. Her response? “Usually it ends up on my ass,” she said with a cackle, referring to her penchant for gelato.

• Benoit Paire told me that he’s not going to prepare for his potential semifinal match against Federer by eating pizza. “No, I will eat pasta,” he said. “One pizza is not bad for me, but we will see.”

• Count me in the camp that thinks it was admirable of Andy Murray to battle back from 1-4 down in the second set against Marcel Granollers to even the second-round match at a set apiece before retiring because of a back injury. He clearly wanted to silence the cynics who were going to assume that he retired simply because he was losing.

• A pregnant Kim Clijsters was in Rome hitting with and coaching her good friend Kirsten Flipkens, who lost in the first round.

• Clijsters even gracefully hopped the fence (which Darren Cahill told me is a code violation) when requested for a coaching timeout.

• An Italian journalist summoned the courage to ask Sharapova if her withdrawal Friday was related to the fact that it was Grigor Dimitrov’s birthday the day before. It didn’t go well.

• Tough luck for anyone scheduled to play on Courts 4 or 6 at the Foro Italico. Both are adjacent to the practice courts most frequented by the top players. Lisa Raymond/Laura Robson and Svetlana Kuznetsova/Flavia Pennetta had to stop their doubles match a number of times because of the crowd’s reaction to Rafael Nadal’s practice session. Minutes later, Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens played part of their second-round match through flashbulbs and “Roger! Roger! Roger!” chants when the Maestro took to a neighboring court.

• Stephens’ face lit up when I told her that a British magazine rated her the ninth-most-marketable athlete in the world.

• Victoria Azarenka has been flying way under the radar in Rome. I can’t decide if that’s a good or a bad thing.

• You rarely get an expressive photo of Nadal’s girlfriend, Xisca Perello. This is a great photo of Rafa’s ladies (from left: his younger sister, Maria Isabel; his mother, Ana Maria; and Perello):

(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

• I always marvel at Italian fans’ patriotism. The court was packed and loud last weekend when Federica Di Sarra, an Italian I’ve never heard of, took on Jamie Hampton in the first round of qualies. That support extended to the standing-room-only crowds for Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

• Love this GIF of Serena from the Madrid Open trophy ceremony.

Serena’s favorite TV show is …

• Does anyone understand this Jo-Wilfried Tsonga promotional game? It sounds like something from the future.

• Bar chat: Better meltdown — “HOW MANY TIMES????” or “THERE IS NO SPACE!!!“?

• Jelena Jankovic defeated Li Na 7-6 (2), 7-5 in a two-hour, 39-minute third-rounder, the longest two-set match of the year for the WTA. The match featured 29 break points, a 10-minute game and Jankovic’s screaming like a banshee toward her box throughout. It was great.

• Raise your hand if you ever uttered the sentence: “Sara Errani? She’s a top-five player, for sure.” Liars, all of you.

• Serena Williams: Photo bomber. She told me she’s annoyed that Venus didn’t post all the pictures that Serena sneaked into. Apparently, there were a lot.

• If Rome’s Stadio Nicola Pietrangeli is the best No. 3 court in the world, SuperTennis Arena has to be one of the worst No. 2 courts (or any court) in the world. The pop-up stadium, with its metal walkways and uncomfortable plastic chairs, has zero ambiance, and the crowd, if there is one, is dead quiet. It’s a tennis wasteland.

• Bar chat: Are Nadal’s matches against David Ferrer actually enjoyable to watch?

• What an odd tournament for the Serbs. A streaking Ana Ivanovic loses in the first round, Novak Djokovic collapses in the quarterfinals, Viktor Troicki loses his mind and Jankovic gets bageled and loses to a qualifier in the quarterfinals. Not so ajde.

• Nadal’s snide dig at Ernests Gulbis after their quarterfinal, effectively saying that the 24-year-old Latvian was just bashing the ball, was very entertaining.

Q&A with Gulbis

• Question I’m struggling to answer: Regardless of her form, can Serena be considered the overwhelming French Open favorite when she hasn’t made it past the quarterfinals since 2003?

• I spoke to Gulbis, Paire, Dimitrov and Jerzy Janowicz this week. So much personality and charisma in that quartet. The ATP will be better off when they can all win matches consistently to earn their time in the spotlight.

• This guy. What a show-off:

Roger Federer hits with children in Rome. (Felice Calabro’/AP)

Novak Djokovic has lost before the semifinals in back-to-back tournaments. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

ROME — Tomas Berdych upset Novak Djokovic 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on Friday, snapping an 11-match losing streak against the world No. 1. Here are three thoughts on the two-hour, 22-minute match:

• Letdowns plague Djokovic: For all the questions surrounding Djokovic’s health after he sprained his ankle in Davis Cup in April and looked on the verge of withdrawing last month from Monte Carlo (where he went on to topple eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final), it’s been the Serb’s mental lapses in his last two matches that have raised questions for his French Open campaign.

Last week, he lost to Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-3 in his opening match at the Madrid Open. Djokovic stormed back from a 2-4 deficit in the second set, but he was broken immediately in the third set and Dimitrov held on for the biggest victory of his career.

On Friday, Djokovic led 6-2, 5-2, poised to defeat Berdych for the 14th time in 15 matches. But Djokovic dropped the next five games to lose the set and looked both frustrated and exasperated throughout the third set, during which Berdych made a break in the third game stand up despite a wobbly finish.

Djokovic also squandered a 3-0 third-set lead in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in March. With Friday’s loss, Djokovic fell to 148-5 when winning the first set since 2011, according to the ATP Tour.

“I’m disappointed because I wanted to do well in Rome,” said Djokovic, who has failed to make the finals in five of his last six ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. “I thought I played really well in the first two matches [this week] and today also up 6-2, 5-2. It’s just sport.

Tomas Berdych beat Novak Djokovic for the second time in 15 meetings. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

“I will take some time off now and try to get ready for Paris,” Djokovic said of the French Open, which begins May 26. “It’s the most important event of the year for me. I’m really looking forward to that. I know I can play well on clay, but I shouldn’t allow myself to have these drops during the match and hopefully it doesn’t happen in Roland Garros.”

• Berdych hangs on after rallying: Berdych has an unfortunate reputation of being a very unreliable closer thanks to some memorable collapses against top players earlier in his career. He seemed to be in danger of another one Friday when he blew three consecutive match points while serving at 5-4 in the third set. But Berdych didn’t panic after squandering the 40-0 lead. At deuce, he hit a service winner wide. And on his fourth match point, he fired his ninth ace.

The game has always been there for the 27-year-old Berdych, who has made the semifinals or better at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. It’s good to see further proof that the mind is getting there, too.

• Embracing ATP parity: Here’s a look at the most surprising semifinalists at the five Masters tournaments this year: Del Potro in Indian Wells; Tommy Haas and Richard Gasquet in Miami; Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo; Stanislas Wawrinka in Madrid; and now Berdych and Benoit Paire in Rome. Del Potro and Berdych may be the least surprising names, but Del Potro had to beat Andy Murray — who had led the head-to-head 5-1 — in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals (followed by Djokovic in the semifinals) and Berdych needed to oust Djokovic to earn his spot this week. I enjoy watching these guys in the second tier and below step up. Now let’s see them translate it to the Slams.

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.

• Peter Bodo says the ESPN deal is a win for tennis.

Among other things, ESPN has bundled its U.S. Open commitment with an agreement to also broadcast the U.S. Open Series that leads to the grand finale in New York. All told, ESPN will broadcast about 200 hours over a span of about six weeks (roughly 140 of those hours will be at the U.S. Open).

And perhaps best of all for tennis diehards: ESPN wants to stream every single competitive main-draw singles match of the tournament, from the minute the first ball of the 2015 U.S. Open is hit.

This is a watershed event for tennis—and probably for sports broadcasting in general.

• Sara Errani is your new WTA No. 5. Impressive work from the consistent Italian over the last year.

• These comments (by coach and former top-20 player Jason Stoltenberg) about the mental block experienced by the young Australians when they get to clay sound equally applicable to a majority of Americans.

”Of course, the Europeans have more experience on it, because they grew up on it, but our games are good. There’s no reason why our players can’t be successful playing on clay. I think a lot of it is their own limited expectations of themselves and what they’re capable of doing, and for Ash that’s very much the case as well.

”They just don’t trust that they can play on the stuff, whereas years ago we just went over there and played tennis. You’re over there to try to win tennis matches, and you just adapt and adjust.”

• The Tennis Space collects some of the most egregious incidents of cheating in tennis.

• Thai veteran Tammy Tanasugarn, 35, says she’s not ready to retire yet.

• Non-tennis: Bring on the weekend!

Maria Sharapova says she was sick last week and fell ill again on Thursday night. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

ROME — Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Italian Open on Friday because of a viral illness, giving Sara Errani a walkover into the semifinals.

The two-time defending champion says she was sick at the Madrid Open last week and began to run a temperature Thursday night after beating Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-1 in the third round. This is the first time Sharapova has withdrawn between matches at a tournament since the 2008 Rogers Cup in Montreal.

“I’m not the one to withdraw from tournaments,” Sharapova said on a conference call with reporters from her hotel. “I don’t have a lot of tournaments on my schedule and the ones that I’m playing mean a lot to me and I want to do the best I can in each one of them. With the French Open coming up, it’s quite important to make the smart decisions and I feel this is just one of them.”

Sharapova’s doctor has advised her to rest ahead of her title defense at the French Open, which begins May 26.

“I just don’t think it’s smart to go out on court and compete, to play another three rounds to win the tournament,” Sharapova said. “Recovery is extremely important right now.”

After winning the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, and reaching the finals in Madrid, Sharapova will go into the French Open with the same number of matches on clay (12) as last year.

“You’re fortunate to be playing a lot of matches and competing from week to week, but sometimes your body might not be ready for it,” she said. “I’m quite fortunate that I have a lot of matches on clay already, and that’s not something that I’ll be lacking going into the French.”

Precautionary withdrawals tend to plague the Italian Open, the last major warm-up before Roland Garros. Last year, Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams pulled out mid-tournament. This year, there have already been five retirements and five withdrawals between the ATP and WTA.

“Especially before Roland Garros, which is probably the most difficult Slam to win, you may feel you want to give yourself the best chances no matter what,” said Williams, who withdrew from the 2012 Italian Open with a back injury before her semifinal match. “If that means pulling out or if it means being extra cautious, sometimes that’s what you have to do.”