Daily Bagel: Dubious record for U.S. men at Sony Open

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZm8g-bDNQk

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

• Video: Tommy Haas is the man of the hour, and if you missed his win over Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night, at least take a moment to watch this Hot Shot.

• As Greg Garber of ESPN.com notes, Sam Querrey's fourth-round loss means that an American man failed to make the quarterfinals of the Sony Open for the first time in the tournament's 29-year history.

And so, put another way, we have the first all-European quarterfinals in Miami. To America at large, that might not seem like a big deal, a parochial note at best. But, in fact, it is symptomatic of a trend that was in play long before Andy Roddick retired after last year's U.S. Open. There was a time (the '60s) when nearly half of the top 100 players in the world were American.

At the moment, there are seven American men in the top 100, and three of them -- Michael Russell, James Blake and Mardy Fish -- are older than 30.

Since the inception of the ATP World Tour rankings in 1973, at least one American man finished in the year-end top 10 -- until last year. John Isner was the leading light for the U.S., finishing at No. 14, followed by Querrey (22) and Fish (27).

Currently, Querrey is our best, at No. 20, and Isner is No. 23.

• Steve Tignor examines Sloane Stephens' rough patch and her head-scratching comments after losing in the fourth round in Miami.

• Serbian media reports that Bojana Jovanovski's ex-boyfriend attempted suicide.

• Interesting piece at Tennis Grandstand on why the Sony Open has lost its luster.

• A profile on Melanie Oudin in the Herald-Tribune.

• This photo of Jelena Jankovic might be my favorite off-court picture of the year:

• Not bad for a 34-year-old, huh?

• Non-tennis: Buzz Bissinger's GQ piece on his Gucci addiction is one long, strange read.

(Jankovic photo via Al Bello/Getty Images)

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