Daily Bagel: Roger Federer all talked out

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

• Video: You know what the U.S. Open needs more of? Squirrels.

• SI.com's Bruce Jenkins with a nice recap of Week 1 at the U.S. Open and a look forward at the storylines driving Week 2.

• Following Roger Federer around as he goes through his media responsibilities sounds exhausting, as The New York Times reports:

On Saturday, after Federer dispatched Fernando Verdasco in about two hours, after he tossed his wristbands into the stands and put away his rackets, the first of more than a dozen microphones settled inches from his face, on court. For a player perhaps interviewed more than anyone else in tennis history, interviewed more, perhaps, than any other athlete, the routine had started.

It lasted until 7:30 p.m., or longer than his tennis match, as Federer conducted a series of television and radio interviews and two news conferences. He answered questions in three languages. He changed outfits. He took inquiries in rooms and hallways, at the players’ garden and on television sets. He gave answers standing up and sitting down and leaning backward.

• Venus Williams bowed out of singles last week but not before feeling the love from the New York crowd, writes SI.com's Andrew Lawrence:

If Venus needs a lift, her country gives her one -- and it doesn't ask for any more trophies in return. Serena can handle that. And when Serena can't play, as was the case when she sat out the 2010 U.S. Open with foot injuries, she draws a little more of her sister out for us to love.

• Speaking of love, New York is doing right by Andy Roddick.

• If you didn't see Marion Bartoli's upset of No. 5 Petra Kvitova on Sunday, you missed one of the weirdest, most entertaining women's matches of the year. Tennis.com's Steve Tignor writes:

Glaring, dancing, first-pumping to each corner of the court, and belting winners past a helpless Kvitova, Bartoli played like a woman possessed -- seriously, it looked like something had overtaken her.

• I'm not sure the rise of Laura Robson will take any attention off Andy Murray, but at least it gives the Brits someone else to talk about:

Andy Murray’s thrashing of Roger Federer in the Olympic final after losing to him in the Wimbledon final has seemingly put Murray, 25, on the verge of winning a Grand Slam tournament. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Laura Robson’s rollout in New York has elevated the British notion of His and Her Wimbledon titles from pure fantasy to comprehendible possibility.

• You know what would be nice? A Laura Robson-Sloane Stephens rivalry down the road. Talented youngsters with personality in spades. Nice profile of Stephens here by Grantland's Louisa Thomas:

Stephens is not going to win a slam as a teenager, but the bigger expectation, the reason people are banking on her, is that her talent and her personality will steady, as well as fuel, her ascent. She is dealing with AmEx ads and kids wearing "Team Sloane" T-shirts, interviews and agents, the long and exhausting sprint of self-promotion. At the same time, I noticed that when she left the practice court, she filled her arms with half a dozen abandoned plastic water bottles and carried them to a recycling bin. It was a tiny gesture, probably meaningless, but it stood out.

• Mallory Burdette spent the night before her third-round clash with Maria Sharapova throwing up and chugging Pedialyte. Tough luck.

• Men are from Mars, women are from Venus: The women had no idea the men were planning a boycott of the Australian Open.

• Daniela Hantuchova and Sergio Garcia?

• Non-tennis: TV couples you wish were real couples. Logan and Veronica FTW.

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