A Few Moments Too Late

So it finally happened, and not a moment too soon - Wayne Odesnik has been suspended for two years for drugs.

I say 'not a moment too soon' - in reality, it was several moments too late. More than several. A LOT. The minute Odesnik picked up his racquet in Houston, it was too late. I know there's innocent till proven guilty and all that, but the fact is that he had pleaded guilty already in front of a Brisbane court to possession of eight vials of human growth hormone. Use your brain.

With this debacle and then the whole thing with Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse last year, which would have put serious dents in both their careers when they effectively did nothing, I think the drug rules of our sport might need to be looked at. I'm not sure how much is ITF specific and how much of it comes through WADA, but when Yanina Wickmayer can get suspended for a dodgy password and someone in possession of vast amounts of a banned substance can still play, there is something going on.

But let us just be satisfied now that things are as they should be. Odesnik should not be allowed to play and now he is not. Drugs in sport are an abomination and punishment should be strict (but not, as in the case of the Belgians, stupid).

JI's Last Hurrah

Well, thank God Wayne Odesnik didn't make it to the Houston final, that's all I can say. Good on Sam Querrey for winning that one.

But I feel like he might have expended a little too much righteous energy in that match, because Juan Ignacio Chela is not really someone he should be losing to. Querrey is, what, 37 in the world? And sure, I realise and respect that he is not a dirtballer and Chela is (at least, more so) but Querrey really should be making mincemeat of JI. Because, let's face it, everyone else is.

I was very surprised to see Chela on the winner's podium here, not just because he beat Querrey, but because he beat, well, everyone else. I think everyone's attention has been focused squarely on Odesnik here, so his run to the final - and, indeed, the title - hasn't been the focus of much of anything. But I'd written Chela off as a huge has been. He's done nothing of note for at least two or three years.

But now, a title. Huh.

I think this is a fluke rather than some kind of epic return to form from Chela - I still think he's going to be remembered as that dude that had that spat with Lleyton Hewitt that time moreso than as JI the fantastic player. This is a huge result for him, make no mistake. But whether or not it means anything in the greater scheme of things? I don't think it's anything more than a last hurrah.

Still A Dope

So if Wayne Odesnik wins in Houston, it's going to be the most awkward trophy ceremony ever.

Actually, you know what? If he does win, I don't think they should even have a trophy ceremony. They shouldn't give him a trophy and they shouldn't give him prize money, because it's all going to be taken away anyway. Because the dude f*cking cheated and if he thinks anything different is going to be proven he has got another think coming.

You know that things are bad for a sportsman when sportsmen from the same country are actively baying for their blood. Sport is quite parochial, traditionally - even tennis, which is hardly a team sport. But Andy Roddick and Sam Querrey, to name a couple, want Odesnik gone. Roddick thinks he should be gone from tennis, bam. Querrey refuses to lose to him.

And fair enough, Sam. You shouldn't even have to play this dude. And even the current doping rules are allowing him to play, and the ITF hasn't slammed down the banhammer like happened in the infamous Belgian case a while back, Odesnik should not be playing. He admitted to possessing HGH and that, by itself, is going to be a two year ban. And no one deserves to have to play - and, as has happened so far in Houston - lose to a cheater.

I bet one Jerzy Janowicz is quite pissed off right now... and I bet he, and pretty much everyone in the sport of tennis at the moment, is identifying as one of Sam Querrey's Samurai for the next match.

Dope

So, doping rules. What's up with them? Because sure as hell am not understanding them.

How is it than when Richard Gasquet was caught having cocaine in his blood - a drug that probably would not enhance his performance at all, however illegal it might be - he was tossed out of the sport until his name had been cleared... but when Wayne Odesnik gets caught with eight vials of human growth hormone, which is definitely a performance enhancing drug, he... plays Houston?

I'm guessing it has something to do with possession vs it actually being in your bloodstream, but come on. Look at the great debacle of Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse, who were out in the cold for ages. The way I see it, the offenses of Wickmayer, Malisse and Gasquet combined - and, you know what, throw Hingis in there for good measure - are nothing compared to what Odesnik is guilty of here. What Odesnik has done is a serious, serious offence in a clean sport.

So how is it that he's not suspended? If Wickmayer and co are guilty until proven innocent, what's up with the Odesnik ruling?

I have no doubt that if/when Odesnik gets convicted or sentenced or whatever they call it, he will be out on his arse. Andy Roddick said he should be thrown out of tennis and I agree wholeheartedly - and I think a whole lot of the tennis world does too. I don't understand why he is allowed to play at the moment, but the fact stands that he should not be playing. And that's something he should have realised himself. Just because you can play doesn't mean you should.

I bet things are real chilly in the locker room for Odesnik right now...

Huge F*cking Idiot

Okay, firstly, Mardy Fish, I rescind my not-hot assessment of you yesterday. I'm still not a massive fan of your game and I don't think you're going to achieve too much more in your career, but if you're going to go and beat Andy Murray in straights, you deserve my respect. Kudos, dude.

Secondly, I think we can all agree that Wayne Odesnik is a huge f*cking idiot.

Drugs and sport do not belong together. If you look at the drug scandals we've had in tennis over the past few years, they're comparatively tame compared to what Odesnik has tried to do. We've had some cocaine scandals - Gasquet and Hingis spring to mind - and then some not turning up to drug tests/reporting whereabouts deals with Wickmayer and Malisse. But to try and smuggle eight vials of human growth hormone into Australia (a country, by the way, with such tight border controls that even the most minute fleck of soil could see you quarantined)?

You f*cking idiot.

There have been a number of reactions to this whole saga and a lot oh-my-god-Odesnik-is-coached-by-Canas-and-Canas-served-a-drug-ban and all that kind of thing, but I think Andy Roddick's reaction is my favourite and the one I endorse the most. He said:

"That's just plain cheating, and they should throw him out of tennis. There's just no room for it."

Word, A-Rod.

The WADA ban for this is two years, but this kind of offence in a sport as clean as tennis is pretty much unforgivable. If Odesnik were to be slapped with a lifetime ban, you would hear no word out of protest from me. Because let's face it - the dude is a huge f*cking idiot.

Time Capsule

One would be forgiven, looking at the results out of Houston and Casablanca this week, that the tour had gone back in time some four, five years. In each tournament we have a real veteran in the final - Lleyton Hewitt in Houston, in what has to be his first final in a couple of years, and Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is apparently considering pulling a Marat and retiring at the end of the year, in Casablanca.

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Let's start with JC, who for about six months in the earlier part of this decade had a Federesque aura of total invincibility. I would love to see him go out with a bang, if he does intend to retire this year. It was a bit sad when he wasn't able to keep up with the Joneses of the tennis world once the Hispano-Suisse domination machine started to roll, because he is really an awesome player to watch. He has a real elegance to his shots - especially on clay - and he is smart. We mustn't forget that he and Federer are the only two players to beat Rafa on clay in the last five-odd years. Sure, Rafa was injured at the time, but still - quite a feat for JC.

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So now he's in the final of Casablanca against Florent Serra (who is also not exactly a tennis spring chicken, though he hasn't reached the veteran status of JC yet). I would dearly love to see him win it. Wouldn't it be fabulous to see the man who once was so invincible have another great run in the twilight of his tennis years? (Wasn't that a convoluted rhetorical question?)

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Same goes for Lleyton Hewitt, for whom, despite all my best efforts, I have a soft spot. (Yes, even after the Lleyton/Bec/Mia matching outfit fashion disaster at the Logies. I don't know what's wrong with me.) He'll face Wayne Odesnik - who has also been around for quite some years - in the final in Houston, and I think it is safe to say that this is a final no one would have expected! I'm pulling for Lleyton, though I wouldn't be surprised if the home crowd advantage got big Wayne over the line... but it really is lovely to see the old guys (I say old - most of them aren't even in their thirties!) doing so well this week. It is so rare!

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (11-9) 6-3

Florent Serra def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-4

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US Men's Clay Court Championships (Houston)

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Wayne Odesnik def. Bjorn Phau, 6-4 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Evgeny Korolev, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-5 6-2

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Aleksandra Wozniak def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 4-6 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Elena Vesnina, 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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ETA: I just read that Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec got married over the Easter weekend - how lovely! Congratulations from Tennis From The Backseat!

That Young Guy

So it looks like Hamburg lost their lawsuit against the ATP. I don't know if I really have an opinion (or feel justified having one) on this issue, but you can't help feeling sorry for them. Hamburg has been such an important tournament for so long and to be relegated like that, and moved, and all kinds of other things... no wonder they tried. But they lost. And now they'll be later in the year, post-Roland Garros, so the star quality won't be nearly so high... though some of them will play on the stuff day in, day out if they can help it. But I'd be very surprised to see the Federers and Nadals of this world there.

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So vale, Hamburg of old. You were a fun tournament while you lasted.

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I wonder how this will effect the rankings? Probably not at all, now that I think of it... it's done by week, not by ranking, yesno? Which is how we know Rafa will become #1 (sob) though he isn't yet - because Roger has yet to drop the points from Montreal and Cincy last year. SO Hamburg will be swept into the corner, to become one of those clay tournaments I rail about. That's really sad, actually.

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What isn't sad is that Marat Safin beat John Isner in straights. I know I always overestimate Isner and that really, the Safins of this world should never lose to the Isners, but still - go Marat! He faces Odesnik next, and provided he keeps his head on straight, he should win easily. I hope he's learning something from his sister's new attitude. Dinara's insanely talented, but the reason she's winning at the moment is that she wants it, and she wants it bad - and she's not backing down. I would love to see non-backing-down Marat too. I would LOVE him to win this tournament. Love. LOVE.

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Even the ATP seems to have conceded that this tournament is pretty dull - their coverage seems lacklustre at best. Their big story is that Donald Young upset Tommy Haas. Hardly world-changing stuff... but then, there's only so much to work with.

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Actually, what is it with this Young kid? I've seen him lauded in some places as this crazy-good young guy who's going to be the future of American tennis, but this is the first time I can remember him winning a match. He hasn't even made a blip on my Stars of the Future radar - and I'm out there looking. I have my posse of young guys, and he never even made the shortlist. Hell, he never even made the longlist. I confess I haven't really paid much attention to him - but why should I? Can someone tell me why this kid is supposedly so good even though he seems to lose nearly all his matches? Because winning a few here and there is kind of key. That's why Gulbis and Cilic are looking so dangerous right now - they may not be winning tournaments yet, but they're getting a few wins nearly every time they step out there. They've made the first step.

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Look at me ragging on Young. I bet he goes on to win the tournament now. That would be just my luck.

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Dusan Vemic def. Sam Warburg, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Donald Young def. Tommy Haas, 6-2 6-4

Marat Safin def. John Isner, 6-3 6-4

Carlos Moya def. Xavier Malisse, 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-5)

Amer Delic def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-4

Vince Spadea def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Denis Gremelmayr def. Feliciano Lopez, 7-5 7-5

Florent Serra def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Blaming LA

Tennis in America is a pain, if you ask me. The timezone is all wrong for blogging. I sit here at 9am Australian Eastern Standard Time time, hoping to recap the past day - even though I haven't actually seen any of it, I rely on my ability to deduce and basically make stuff up - but when the tennis is in America, or worse, on the west coast of America, the day has barely begun. Really, LA, catch up. You're behind - timewise, at least. You are inconveniencing me greatly.

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Because I really, really have nothing to talk about. I'm sure Odesnik/Reynolds and Stoppini/Kunitsyn were fascinating in their way, but I can tell you very little about any of those players. I don't think I've even heard of Stoppini. As I write this, Grosjean and Spadea are into a third, as are Vemic and Warburg. Much as I like Sebastien Grosjean, these are hardly world stopping matches... especially when you can't see them.

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And I am not talking about rankings. I am not even thinking about rankings. Oh no.

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Federer moved to a new apartment. Does that count as something? Today, I am afraid, I have nothing to say. I blame LA. They're as good a scapegoat as anyone else.

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Wayne Odesnik def. Bobby Reynolds, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Andrea Stoppini def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-1 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Alejandro Falla, 6-2 6-2