Wayne Odesnik is one of those names that only the most avid of tennis fans know. There are more well-known American players: Andy Roddick, James Blake, Sam Querrey, John Isner, even Robby Ginepri and Mardy Fish. Odesnik is a lefty clay court player born in South Africa.
Earlier this year, Odesnik illegally brought HGH to Australia and was fined at least $7000 at the time. He was allowed to continue play and was able to reach the semis of the Houston this year (he was a finalist last year) losing to Sam Querrey.
Odesnik is not the first to be accused of drug-related issues and banned. His coach Guillermo Canas was accused of doping. The sentence was also a ban for two years starting August 8, 2005. He appealed and was allowed to return back on May 23, 2006. Richard Gasquet tested positive for cocaine, but appealed this decision too and was allowed to return to tour. Mariano Puerta, who Rafael Nadal beat in his first French Open title, was also accused of doping and was banned for 9 months and fined $5700.
Of course, there was the revelation that Andre Agassi used crystal meth and how that was swept under the carpet and how John McEnroe used steroids which Martina Navratilova joked that he must have used wrong because of how thin McEnroe was. Mathieu Montcourt was caught betting on tennis, although the amounts were considered relatively small. Montcourt died July 6, 2009 of cardiac arrest. It was unknown if he was using drugs that contributed to his death.
Given how previous players have acted, one imagines Odesnik will attempt to appeal. He’s already plead guilty to importing HGH so it’s unclear what he might do in such an appeal.
