Kendrick's doping ban reduced to eight months

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday reduced American Robert Kendrick’s one-year tennis ban to eight months, saying that his doping offence was not intended “to enhance sporting performance”.

“The CAS has confirmed that Robert Kendrick was guilty of a doping offence but has decided to reduce his suspension to eight months, starting from 22 May 2011,” it said in a statement.

   But it disqualified the player from the 2011 French Open in May.

   Kendrick, ranked 105 in the world, failed a doping test at the French Open in Paris. His sample revealed traces of the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine.

   The 31-year-old claimed the stimulant had got into his system when he took a capsule of Zija XM3 to combat jetlag and he denied any intent to enhance his performance as a result of taking the substance.

   Although the International Tennis Federation accepted Kendrick’s  account, he was banned for competitive tennis for 12 months, as the  Tennis Anti-Doping Programme makes it clear that it is a player’s personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his or her body.

   Nevertheless, CAS noted that since “it was not disputed by the parties that there was no intent to enhance sporting performance ... the CAS Panel found that the eight-month suspension was appropriate to the degree of fault borne by the player.”   

The Orlando-based player has never been past the second round of  a Grand Slam, but he did come close to a famous upset at Wimbledon in 2006 when he took the first two sets against Rafael Nadal before  eventually losing in the final set.