Wayne Odesnik loses first match in 16 months

Friday, 5 August 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Wayne Odesnik had waited 16 months for this moment — his return to top-level tennis after serving a ban from the sport for smuggling performance-enhancing drugs into Australia.

Wayne Odesnik, left, walks off the court with his opponent, Radek Stepanek, during a rain break in their match at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Stepanek defeated Odesnik, 6-1, 6-1.

Wednesday at Washington’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Odesnik’s return to the ATP Tour lasted a mere 57 minutes, as the American was blown off the court by Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-1.

None of Odesnik’s American peers were in the stands to cheer him on, although a half-dozen compatriots remain in the tournament’s singles draw.

James Blake, the veteran among them, made plain earlier in the week that he doesn’t approve of what Odesnik did. While Odesnik never failed a drug test as a player, human-growth hormone (a banned substance) was discovered in his luggage entering Australia.

To other players, Odesnik’s return to the ATP circuit here in Washington particularly chafes in the wake of the International Tennis Federation’s decision last week to ban American Robert Kendrick one year for a far lesser offense. In May, Kendrick tested positive for a banned stimulant that he took, he said, to counter the effects of jet lag.

“The punishment [Kendrick] received compared to punishments other players have received is absolutely absurd,” Ryan Sweeting said.

Odesnik said Wednesday that he didn’t care what other players think. They didn’t know all the facts, he said. Nor, he added, do the media.

“Obviously there are things you don’t know that I’m not entitled to tell you,” said Odesnik, whose two-year suspension was initially cut in half, then reduced to seven months after he participated in an ITF anti-doping program.

“If they have negative things to say, I’m not going to sit here and bad-mouth them. My goal is to get my life on track and surround myself with good people. They don’t matter to me — good or bad.”

If Wednesday’s match is any indication, Odesnik, 25, faces a long, lonesome road back to the form he had in 2009, when he reached a career-high No. 77 in the rankings.

Against the 54th-ranked Stepanek, Odesnik held serve to win the opening game of the match. Then the rain came, halting the action for nearly two hours. When it resumed, Odesnik proceeded to lose 11 consecutive games.

It’s not as if he has been idle the past months. On the contrary, Odesnik has thrown himself into the sport’s Challenger and Futures circuits — the tennis equivalent of Class AA and Class AAA baseball — since January, trying to amass enough points to boost his ranking so he’d get the chance to qualify for tournaments on the elite ATP circuit.

He fell just short of making the 64-player cut in Washington. But after top American Mardy Fish withdrew on Monday, Odesnik was tapped to take his spot as the highest ranked competitor (161st) to just miss the field.

Odesnik inherited not only Fish’s No. 2 seeded spot in the draw but also the first-round bye that came with it.