"Whereabouts" of
top players

The internet has been positively buzzing the last few days over what appears to be an egregious foul-up by the International Tennis Federation, in which it published online, along with a long list of players who had been routinely drug-tested during 2009, a list of 47 players who were not where they said they would be for out-of-competition testing.

That list includes No. 1 players Roger Federer and Serena Williams, plus Venus Williams and a number of other recognizable names, but doesn't necessarily connote a violation of the ATP or WTA drug rules.

"The original documents posted on our website included details of 47 out-of-competition missions, where no sample was taken. But these included missions that were outside the player's nominated 60-minute time slot and therefore not a violation," an ITF spokesman explained.

"To avoid any confusion, these 47 missions have been removed from the player list with an explanation at the bottom."

I then asked if that explanation also means that there were also players tested out of competition who did not have a legitimate excuse for missing a test and who were, thus, in violation.

"Yes, there would also have been some violations on that list," was the follow-up reply. It would be very difficult to know who was in violation and who was not since that information is closely guarded by drug-testing officials and the ITF spokesman certainly wasn't going to reveal any names, even if he knew them.

Federer did not show for an out-of-competition test on Oct. 28, along with Rafael Nadal (June 14), Gilles Simon (July 9 and Dec. 8). Juan Martin Del Potro (Aug. 26), Andy Roddick (Aug. 15), the Williams sisters (June 16), Sam Querrey (Nov. 24), Maria Sharapova (J uly 9) and Jelena Jankovic (Sept. 22) -- to name some of the high-profile players among the 47.

They are identified on the list as having missed an out-of-competition test because there are zeros in all three alternative drug-testing columns -- blood, urine and EPO, which is a blood-replacement method. It should be noted that it takes three no-show violations to lead to a ban and not only is there no easy way of knowing who violated and who didn't, you don't know if this was a first, second or third violation.

That, however, hasn't stopped the internet mavens, many of whom are conjuring up conspiracy theories. You can find a great deal of chatter on this subject at the Tennis Warehouse "talk tennis" site -- http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=314727.

Some wrote in talking about "cycling," in which players get off the tour for three or four weeks immediately after passing an in-competition test. Others noted how selected players suddenly played their best tennis right after a drug test.

There were 2,126 tests administered during 2009, including 154 out-of-competition tests and Federer was tested or scheduled for tests 11 times -- more than any other major player.

Oddly, he was tested much more often early in the season than after Wimbledon. Here are the dates of his testing: March 16, April 2, April 16, April 29, May 15, May 27, June 7, July 5, Nov. 7, Nov. 26, and a scheduled out-of-competition test on Oct. 28.

Nadal was tested five times -- Feb. 9, April 15, May 28 and, strangely, twice during the Davis Cup final, on Dec. 4 and Dec. 6. There also was the out-of-competition test he missed on June 14, after he had gone off the tour to recover from his sore patellar tendonitis.

This isn't the first time out-of-competition drug testing has been in the news. Last year, Belgian players Xavier Malisse and Yanina Wickmayer were given one-year bans not for failing a drug test but for not fulfilling the "whereabouts" rule, in which they have to tell drug officials where they will be for a specific one-hour time period each day for the coming three months.

Both continue to play while appealing, and Wickmayer has gotten strong support from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, which has criticized the whereabouts rule as overly strict.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com

Charles Bricker