Daily Bagel: Assist to Novak Djokovic

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

• Novak Djokovic squeezes in a pickup soccer game amid preparations for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.

• ESPN.com writers debate Djokovic's chances of another Indian Wells/Miami sweep and more.

• Wind was the story of Day 1 at Indian Wells. Petra Kvitova's advice: "It's important to hit the ball inside the court. That's the key." Helpful! Here's the order of play for Day 2.

• A wonderful personal essay from The Paris Reviewabout the love of tennis and the intellectual approach to the game. "There was something intoxicating about the idea that the mind could exert too much control over the body and that there could be freedom from the mind’s tyranny in the ability to let the body take the helm," A-J Aronstein writes. "Tennis represents an entirely individual struggle to wrest control from the mind: to be at once fully conscious of oneself and yet able to stop thinking."

• Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times spotlights 18-year-old Buffalo native Jessica Pegula, who made her first career main draw at Indian Wells and whose father bought the NHL's Sabres last year.

• Chris Chase at Busted Racquet breaks down the creepy factor of this ATP promotional photo for Indian Wells.

• Ivan Ljubicic, 32, has announced he will retire after next month's tournament in Monte Carlo. Happy trails to the highly respected veteran, who reached a career-high No. 3 in 2006.

• Non-tennis: Do you like your sports with 100 percent more stun guns? Well, have I got the sport for you. Introducing Ultimate Tak Ball. Oh, the pun-tastic headlines you could write.

See or read something that you enjoyed and want to share? Feel free to email or tweet us links to pieces from around the Internet that may have slipped past our radar.