Americans weigh in on Kendrick vs. Odesnik

Wayne Odesnik and Robert Kendrick were the talk of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic earlier this week, which is quite unusual since between them, they only won 2 games in the main draw (Kendrick didn't play and Odesnik lost 6-1 6-1 to Radek Stepanek). 

Though drastically different in games and personality, the journeymen have two things in common: they're American and they've received doping suspensions.  Fellow American players James Blake, John Isner, and Ryan Sweeting had no qualms drawing comparisons between the two in their press conferences after their victories in the first round. 

In the press conferences it was tennis bloggers Romana Cvitkovic and Ben Rothenberg who brought up the issue, and both have written excellent articles on the situation.  Rothenberg, writing for SB Nation, wrote a comprehensive summary on everything Wayne Odesnik, and Cvitkovic, covering the tournament for Tennis Grandstand, discussed Sweeting's comments and Blake's comments in great detail.

Odesnik has never been in contention for a Mr. Popularity award, even prior to his suspension.  We wrote about his Qualification Round loss to Rajeev Ram, but he ended up getting into the tournament as a Lucky Loser when Mardy Fish withdrew at the last minute, which propelled him to the second round of the tournament.  Kendrick, meanwhile, just got suspended for a jet lag pill found in his system during the French Open and was unable to play this tournament.  Already at the tale-end of his career,  colleagues and fans are rallying around him to get his suspension reduced so he can play in his final U.S. Open this year.  They have even created a facebook group to show support.