Tomas Berdych Gives Me a Reason to Blog

I was content to keep biding my time until the Cincinnati Open before breaking my blogging fast, but the sight of a naked Tomas Berdych in ESPN Magazine jolted me into action.

Haters, repeat after me: I love tennis.  I LOVE tennis!  I lovelovelovelove tennis!

 ESPN, how come you couldn't have photographed Tomas in a return of serve position?

Guess what?  Guys, even super fit pro athlete guys, have body issues, too.  Berdych wishes he had leaner legs.  "Being heavier down low, rather than up top, is what has been working in my case," he tells ESPN.  "The ideal plan would be skinnier and lighter legs and a little bit more on the upper body. But it's not something where you go into a store and say, 'I want that.'"

When the issue first hit, Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder's thick physique and belly jelly roll made the headlines and set Twitter aflutter.  He told ESPN that he initially worked out as an excuse to carbo load.  "My thing was, especially during the season, I would just lift weights and eat -- play for the tie." HuffPo took the big body shamers to task, noting that similar animosity had been directed toward other black athletes, notably Venus Williams (also in the 2014 Body Issue), sis Serena and Taylor Townsend, all tennis players.

 So I totally missed out on Tomas Berdych's presence, until hearing the commentators mention it on Tennis Channel during the cheeky Czech's beatdown of Robby Ginepri at the Bank of the West tournament.  

"Berdych will be having a hard time getting through the crowd to our booth AFTER THAT PHOTO SHOOT IN THE BODY ISSUE."  I could have sworn I saw the TV wink.  

Okay, I gotta see this for myself, I thought, hoisting my laptop onto my....well, yeah, lap.  

Now, if I could only hoist Berdych into it.  Wow.