On Wednesday, it was announced that American tennis player Wayne Odesnik had been handed one of the longest suspensions in the history of professional tennis as he was banned for 15 years for a second doping offence.
Back in 2010, Odesnik was found to be in possession of human growth hormone, a violation that saw him banned for two years before it was eventually halved due to co-operation with the ITF.
Then, shortly before the end of 2014, the left-hander tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in an out-of-competition test.
A statement from the United States Anti-Doping Agency revealed that it had been determined that Odesnik would be banned until January 2030, a timeframe which effectively ended the world number 267's career. Shortly after the ban was announced, Odesnik confirmed his retirement from the sport.
© Getty Images
Tennis is widely regarded as one of the sports that rarely encounters problems with performance-enhancing drugs, and news of Odesnik's second encounter with doping authorities was met with little sympathy from some of the top names on the ATP Tour.
After defeating Jack Sock in the fourth round of the Indian Wells Masters, Roger Federer was asked about his view of the situation, leading to the 17-time major winner to say: "Players and athletes should know if they cheat, they get caught. I'm all for a clean sport, and that's why you've got to catch those guys who don't do the things they are supposed to be doing."
World number three Rafael Nadal offered less opinion on Odesnik, but the Spaniard said: "Obviously when that happens twice, you don't deserve to be on the tour."
Andy Murray was more outspoken than two of his rivals at the top of the world rankings, with the British number one describing Odesnik as "a cheat" and backing moves by authorities to conduct more drugs tests, both during competition and in the off-season.
Big-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic also weighed in on the suspension of Odesnik, telling reporters: "There is a price to pay. It's like the prison of sport, you know. It's hard to find even a job or anything after that in that same field. It's unfortunate that he felt he needed to do that, and it's obviously unfair to other competitors."
Below, Sports Mole have included a number of posts made on Twitter by current and former players, which were headed by Murray who wasted little time in praising the action of USADA and the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.
Bye bye Wayne... Good riddance
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) March 18, 2015
@andrewikesports my feelings are that he's a douchebag and I hate that he has a US flag next to his name when he's cheating. Good riddance
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) March 18, 2015
Wayne Odesnik cheats again what a joke... Get out of the sport mate #cheat
— jamie delgado (@DelgadoJamie) March 18, 2015
This makes me really angry...would like to think tennis is otherwise a clean sport RT @andy_murray: Bye bye Wayne... Good riddance
— Katie O'Brien (@katiejobrien) March 18, 2015
When announcing his retirement, Odesnik stressed that he had "unknowingly ingested a contaminated over-the-counter supplement", which is currently being tested while he considers his legal options.
Darren Plant
