The Rice University Neologisms Database

to be held scoreless Most tennis tournaments are held over the course of a weekend and require players to play multiple matches in a day. At tournaments bagels are commonly eaten by players because they are as a quick, long-lasting energy food that won't upset their stomachs, which is important when having to play multiple times. Because of this, tennis players are familiar with bagels, and their circular shape lend themselves readily to the analogy of getting held scoreless, or zeroed, or bageled.