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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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.

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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.

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Sloane Stephens hasn’t made it past the round of 16 of an event since her Australian Open run. (Alan Diaz/AP)

According to an annual list of the 50 most marketable athletes compiled by British sports magazine SportsPro Media, ATP No. 1 Novak Djokovic is the sixth most marketable athlete in the world. In a rather surprising selection, Sloane Stephens comes in at No. 9, making her the most marketable female athlete in the world. Djokovic and Stephens come in ahead of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal, as well as Roger Federer and Serena Williams, who didn’t even make the list.

Are you scratching your head? Me, too.

WERTHEIM: Serena, Nadal confirm French Open favorite statuses

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Maria Sharapova won in Rome last year, and then went on to win the French Open. (Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images)

ROME, Italy — The French Open is just two weeks away and the top players will play their final tune-up this week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, a.k.a The Italian Open, held at the beautiful grounds at the Foro Italico.

In recent years, the 56-player joint tournament has been a good indicator of French Open success. In the last six years, the women’s finalists have gone on to make the semifinals or better at Roland Garros, with two going on to win the title. That’s what happened last year when Maria Sharapova beat Li Na to win her second straight Rome title and was lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen in Paris three weeks later. The numbers are less compelling for the men because, well, Rafael Nadal has won the French Open seven of the last eight years. He’s won Rome a record six years and made the finals seven times. Obviously he’ll be the favorite again.

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Both Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost in the quarterfinals of Madrid on Friday so Murray gave his overdressed Adidas buddy “a lift” to Rome on a private jet.

It s our ride to Rome! @andy_murray massive gentleman. I will get you back one day… http://t.co/yF4CG71sQK—
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (@tsonga7) May 11, 2013

Of course, no act of charity comes without conditions. Andy made it clear he expects some payback.

@tsonga7 no worries… Just some fashion tips and let me win next time we play…—
Andy Murray (@andy_murray) May 11, 2013

Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

Random thoughts, observations and links from the tennis world …

• Above photo: Shhh! Little geniuses at work.

• For four days the tennis headlines were dominated by gossip, scandal and violence. So thank you, Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov, for playing a compelling, dramatic, three-hour second-round match in Madrid on Tuesday that made us remember that that’s why we love this sport.

What was Sharapova’s message for Dimitrov?

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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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The ATP’s and WTA’s top players led a moment of silence before the start of play at the Madrid Open on Sunday in remembrance of ATP executive chairman and president Brad Drewett, who died on Friday after a battle with motor neurone disease.

The tribute was lead by the ATP Big Four — Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — with a number of WTA players, including No. 1 Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, and Sabine Lisicki, also in attendance to pay respects. A moment of silence was also observed before the finals at the Portugal Open and the BMW Open in Munich.

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