Daily Bagel: Importance of Tour Finals

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

• Video: Bob and Mike Bryan are still trying to qualify for the semifinals at the ATP World Tour Finals, but no matter what they'll still walk away with both the year-end No. 1 ranking and the ATP's Fan Favorite award for doubles. Solid year for the Gold Medal Bros.

• Are the ATP's year-end championships really that important? Steve Tignor isn't convinced.

I think many of us watch the regular Masters events throughout the season with more of an anticipatory buzz than we do the WTF. Key Biscayne and Indian Wells, being 10 days long and dual gender, feel like junior Slams, while the spring clay and summer hard-court Masters whet our appetites for the majors that follow them. Whatever happens at the WTF, it doesn’t lead anywhere or connect to anything else, so it doesn’t inspire the same speculative chatter and energy that the earlier Masters do.

• Lots of Player of the Year talk this week, and it sounds like Andy Murray is the front-runner among most of the pundits. I remain unconvinced unless he wins the World Tour Finals, but the more people make the case for him, the more I'm warming to the idea, even if ever so slightly.

• Another American ATP tournament is headed overseas. Matt Cronin reports that the ATP's Los Angeles tournament has been sold and will be moving to Bogota. With the ATP's San Jose tournament moving after 2013, that means there will be no tour-level, ATP-only events left in California. That's an incredible loss. Then again, I guess the empty stadiums spoke for themselves.

In 1980, there were 36 ATP tournaments played in the U.S. Next year, there will only be 13. In 2014, unless a new tournament comes in, there will only be 12, as San Jose will move to Brazil.

• Caroline Wozniacki is back on her WAG duties, supporting Rory McIlroy in Singapore.

• Andrea Petkovic is blogging from Pune, India, where she's competing in a new WTA $125K tournament.

• Non-tennis: Uggs are so over. Thank God. Please spread the word.

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