Daily Bagel: How Boise, Idaho, came to host Davis Cup matches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVKfIp2G8Ok
The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.
• Video: The second-set tiebreak between Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Garcia in Charleston on Wednesday was high-quality stuff. You can watch it starting at the 1:55 mark.
• Christopher Clarey explains how Boise, Idaho, came to host this weekend's Davis Cup tie between the U.S. and Serbia.
First, Jim Courier, the U.S. captain, and the Bryan twins have a long- running connection with Greg Patton, the enthusiastic coach of the Boise State University tennis team, who was once Courier’s captain in Junior Davis Cup.
Second, Boise lies at an altitude of about 2,800 feet, or about 850 meters, which Courier and his team hope will create faster, livelier conditions that will favor their towering, power-hitting singles players: Sam Querrey and John Isner.
“They are very strong,” Djokovic said at a news conference this week. “They have chosen these conditions because they believe it’s going to be in their favor. They have a strong serve. With this altitude, it helps the serve more. But we played in these conditions before.”
Review: Williams sisters documentary touches on controversy
• Greetings from Boise, from the U.S. Davis Cup team:
http://instagram.com/p/XquRi5MpXI/
• Win or lose, Patrick Rafter just wants to see Bernard Tomic show some fight.
"He's still got a little way to go," Rafter said of Tomic's attitude and commitment.
"He's getting there though and he's heading in the right direction and that's all I can ask from him right now.
"But until we get under that pressure situation ... we'll wait and see how everyone goes under these tough circumstances.
"The Aussie tradition and the Aussie way is to sit there and fight hard and, that way, I'm proud regardless of if we win or lose."
• The filmmakers behind "Venus and Serena," the documentary detailing the sisters' impact on the sport, tell USA Today that Venus was very protective of how the family was portrayed during filming.
"I was always afraid I was going to piss her off and lived with fear they might shut the thing down," Major said.
Both filmmakers wanted more from the sisters, but were happy with their output.
"I would have loved to film them going to church to see a bit more of what their religion means to them and how it has shaped them," Baird wrote of the sisters, who are Jehovah's witnesses. "They did not seem comfortable with letting us into this side of their lives which we had to respect."
• Check in on Brian Baker, he tells USA Today it feels great to be back on court. Here's a picture he tweeted of his rehab:
https://twitter.com/BBakesTennis/status/319587956086157312
• Kamakshi Tandon issues her quarterly progress report for the men and the women.
• Ana Ivanovic crashed out at the Monterrey Open, losing to defending champion Timea Babos in the second round. Here she is doing a photoshoot before the tournament and arriving to the player party with her boyfriend.
• Lindsay Gibbs takes you inside the Charleston press room.
• Non-tennis: During her loss to Genie Bouchard in Charleston, I overheard Laura Robson repeatedly calling herself "a muppet." Since I assume she wasn't equating herself to Kermit the Frog, I googled the UK slang term.
