May 19, 2010 | 11:45 pm

Wayne Odesnik Gets a 2 Year Ban

Posted by Jeremy Fine

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The Great Rabbino doesn’t cover too much Tennis. We did post an interview with Paul Goldstein, but really we have not done too much. The reality is while there are a bunch of good Jewish players, rarely do they make headlines. Shahar Pe’er occasionally is in the news and Andy Ram has been a successful doubles player. But this time its Wayne Odesnik made the headlines.

Who you ask? Odesnik is currently ranked 111th in the world and hasn’t reached higher than 77th. He has played in 6 majors. His biggest wins came against Ivan Ljubicic in 2007 and in 2009 he beat Igor Kunitsyn. Nothing too substantial and he has never really been in the spotlight until now.

Odesnik recently received a two year ban from the International Tennis Federation because of importing Human Growth Hormones from Australia. Two months ago he pleaded guilty to the charges. Odesnik denied allegations of ever using HGH and has never tested positive for the substance. The ITF said, “Mr. Odesnik did not in fact obtain or apply for a therapeutic use exemption ... prior to obtaining it,” the ITF said in a statement. “Accordingly, Mr. Odesnik’s possession of the human growth hormone is an anti-doping rule violation.”

While this might not be a major blow to the tennis world, it is certainly a blow to the Jewish tennis world. Odesnik officially began his suspension on December 29th 2009. The story has just recently gone public. For more on Odesnik’s situation check out www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/13411923/american-odesnik-gets-twoyear-ban-for-doping?tag=globalNav.tennis;headlines.

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
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