Robert Kendrick

The popular American is back after his controversial ban - Robert will be playing at the Honolulu Challenger this week in Hawaii.

Kendrick has had his doping ban reduced to eight months from one year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

From AAP:

Some of Robert Kendrick's fellow ATP players are rallying behind the 31-year-old American in the wake of a one-year doping ban handed down last week by the International Tennis Federation.
Kendrick tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine at the French Open in May. He claimed to have ingested the substance when he took a diet pill, Zija, to combat jetlag.
While accepting his story, the ITF said players are responsible for any substance in their body and imposed a ban until next May, although an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport could see that timeframe reduced.
``I think it's absolutely ridiculous he has gotten a year ban,'' American Ryan Sweeting said after a first-round ATP Washington Classic victory Tuesday. ``I've been in touch with him. We've been speaking every day.
``For a 31-year-old to take one diet pill and receive a year ban, I just don't understand the logic behind it. All the players wonder what is going on.''
While admitting players do bear responsibility for what they ingest, Sweeting said that players wonder how some receive lesser punishments for what could be considered worse violations.
``The punishment he received compared to punishments other players have received is absolutely absurd,'' Sweeting said.
American Wayne Odesnik ``got caught smuggling performance-enhancing drugs into another country (Australia) and he got six months,'' he added.
Odesnik, whose two-year ban was reduced to seven months for participating in an ITF program, is set to play his first ATP match since the ban was imposed last year in a second-round Washington matchup on Wednesday.
Sweeting also cited a revoked two and half month ban on Frenchman Richard Gasquet in 2009 after a positive test for cocaine that he said came from a kiss at a Miami nightclub.
There is a ``Free Kendo'' Facebook page and Bosnian Amer Delic posted his support for Kendrick on the Twitter microblogging service.
``Common sense should prevail,'' Delic said. ``My friend and colleague has been treated really really unfairly.''
Sweeting noted that Kendrick, who is ranked 106th in the world, is dogged by injuries, something that most performance-enhancing drugs help players avoid so they can build larger muscles.
``You can see it,'' Sweeting said. ``He is injured nearly every week. He is clearly not the most physical tennis player.
``It's sad this had to happen.''

Banned American tennis player Robert Kendrick will appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to shorten his 12-month suspension for doping, his attorneys said on Monday.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspended the 31-year-old American last week after he returned a positive test result for methylhexaneamine (MHA) at the French Open.

Kendrick wants his suspension reduced to three months, which would allow him to compete at the U.S. Open starting August 29.

Kendrick claimed he took a pill to help him cope with jetlag without knowing it contained the banned substance.

MHA, a stimulant used in nasal decongestants and commonly used by body builders, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list last year and has since led to bans for scores of athletes.

The ITF wrote in its summary that it did not believe that Kendrick took the substance as a performance enhancer.

However, the Tennis Anti-Doping Program holds players responsible for ensuring no prohibited substances enters their bodies, unless they hold a valid exemption for therapeutic use, which Kendrick lacked.

"A 12-month sanction is shocking, grossly disproportionate to the landscape of MHA and specified substance sanctions in the sporting community," Kendrick's attorney Brent Nowicki told Reuters.

"Robert is not asking to be exonerated. He is asking for a just punishment. Instead, the ITF is trying to take a speeding ticket and turn it into a felony."

Kendrick's attorneys would try to get a CAS hearing the week of August 15, two weeks prior to the start of the U.S. Open, which the player has said would be his last.

The ITF said that Kendrick should have known the rules and took "an inappropriately relaxed approach to his doping responsibilities."

Kendrick reached a career-best ranking of 69 in 2009 and is currently ranked 105th. His suspension runs until May 2012.

Well, well, well...


ITF Press Release



Decision in the Case of Robert Kendrick



London, England, 29 Jul 2011 - The International Tennis Federation announced today that Robert Kendrick has been found to have committed a Doping Offence under Article C.1 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (presence of a Prohibited Substance in player’s sample).


Mr Kendrick, a 31-year-old tennis player from the United States, provided a sample on 22 May 2011 at the French Open held in Paris, France. That sample was sent to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Montreal, Canada for analysis, and was found to contain methylhexaneamine, a stimulant.
Methylhexaneamine is a Prohibited Substance under section S6 of the 2010 WADA List of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods, and is therefore also prohibited under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. Mr Kendrick was therefore charged with an anti-doping rule violation under Article C.1 of the Programme.


Mr Kendrick asserted that the methylhexaneamine had got into his system through his ingestion of a capsule of Zija XM3, which he took to combat jetlag. He denied any intent to enhance his performance as a result of taking this substance.


The ITF accepted Mr Kendrick’s account of the circumstances surrounding his ingestion of methylhexaneamine, and accepted that he did not intend to enhance his performance. Under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, however, it is a player’s strict personal duty to ensure that no Prohibited Substance enters his body, whether as a prescription medication or otherwise, unless he holds a valid therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for such substance. Mr Kendrick did not hold a valid TUE.


A tribunal therefore confirmed Mr Kendrick’s commission of a Doping Offence under Article C.1 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, and determined that he should be suspended from participation for a period of 12 months, commencing as from 22 May 2011 and so ending at midnight on 21 May 2012. The tribunal also determined that Mr Kendrick’s results at the 2011 French Open should be disqualified, with resulting forfeiture of the ranking points and prize money that he won at those events.

Rob Kendrick, scheduled to be the top seed at the Tiburon men's pro tennis event on the USTA Challenger circuit, pulled out of the tournament citing a back complaint that he suffered from a doubles match.