Daily Bagel: Rafael Nadal on cover of Spanish ESPN the Magazine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPLknAY96ac

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

• Video: Check out this stick save by Grigor Dimitrov last week against Juan Martin del Potro in Rotterdam.

• From the Globe and Mail, more from Rebecca Marino and her decision to step away from tennis.

While there were moments of her tennis career she loved, she said, “pro tennis is not as glamorous as it’s made out to be, especially in the lower ranks when you’re scrounging for one dollar here, one dollar there, and you don’t get much credit for it.”

Marino said the time spent away from family and friends was especially tough on her. “It was becoming more and more apparent that I didn’t have the passion that it would take. It was just me being honest with myself and knowing that I have other options out there.”

• Rafael Nadal on the cover of ESPN the Magazine.

• Dubai's spot in the calendar means it's the victim year after year of untimely withdrawals. As reported by The National, Serena Williams addressed the crowd Wednesday and said she'd "100 percent" be back next year. We'll see.

• From Reuters, a piece on Roger Federer's return to South Africa for his charitable foundation, which supports 40 schools in hopes of improving educational offerings.

Federer admits he did not always do his best at school, saying: "I used to have many more regrets when I was younger, because I was a bit crazy.

"At school, I wouldn't always learn for my tests as much as I should have. I think that's why today I'm so dedicated to both things, so people don't do the same mistakes as I did, even though I was able to turn the corner in time."

• From Sport 360.com, Diego Maradona jokes that he'd like to coach Del Potro.

• In this Belgian link, Carlos Rodriguez says David Goffin, who hasn't beaten anyone ranked inside the top 100 this year, needs to leave Belgium to improve.

• Check out Game, Set, Map, a blog that tries to rethink sports analytics for tennis. I'm not going to pretend I'm smart enough to understand the analytical details, but it's really interesting to try.

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