Daily Bagel: Tennis for at-risk youth
The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.
• The ATP decides it would be a good idea to dangle Juan Martin del Potro 900 feet above the ground in Sydney. I do love the fact that he pointed out he's actually been higher up at the Empire State Building. You know, after he won the U.S. Open.
• Here's a great story: A USTA team for at-risk youth in Georgia is being formed. Said one of the organizers: "We're hoping nobody else knows the kids are at risk. What we're hoping to do is take them out of that situation and show them something different in life, that they don't have to buy into what was normal for them." Good stuff.
• A very touching interview with Kim Clijsters in The Guardian about her special relationship with her father, who died four years ago. "The important thing was that he got to know Jada and he would love it if I left her with him -- and he'd feed her and play with her," Clijsters said. "He was my dad, a great friend, an adviser, a protector. There are things I do with Jada that make me understand why he did those same things to me. That's comforting -- knowing I'm passing on what he taught me." Is that some dust in your eye? Yeah, me too.
• A good piece on perspective that every tennis fan should read as we kick off 2012. Why do we feel the need to create artificial tensions between fan bases? Sometimes it's part of the fun. Every story needs a villain. But when it veers from humorous poking to real animosity, we all need to step back. Tim Joyce writes: "In this age of endless vitriolic discourse, anonymous web postings and hyper-analytical rantings on the most trivial aspects of an athlete's talent or character, it has created strife in rooting circles when there isn't really reason for it."
• Li Na is the only Nike-sponsored player allowed to wear other sponsors' patches on her kit. Here's one theory as to why. Bottom line: When you can help a brand break into a massive market in China, you have a lot of leverage.
• Some Australian journalists took issue with Andy Roddick's demeanor at a Kooyong press conference. If you listen to the audio, you might be left scratching your head. What exactly were they annoyed with?
• Check out this photo shoot for Agnieszka Radwanska. Wowza.
• The Tennis Integrity Unit removed two fans from the Heineken Open for allegedly betting on specific points during matches, an illegal act because of the delay between the live action and television broadcast.
