The American No nine and world No 105 provided a positive sample at this year’s French Open, following his first round defeat to Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The 31-year-old claimed at an International Tennis Federation tribunal that the presence of the substance in his system was the result of taking a Zija XM3 capsule to combat jetlag, and that he had not taken it to enhance his performance – an explanation which was accepted by the tribunal. But, under strict liability rules, he was found guilty of a doping offence and banned for 12 months, backdated to the positive test on May 22.
A statement at http://www.itftennis.com read: ‘The ITF accepted Mr Kendrick’s account of the circumstances surrounding his ingestion of methylhexaneamine, and accepted that he did not intend to enhance his performance. ‘Under the tennis anti-doping programme, however, it is a player’s strict personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his body, whether as a prescription medication or otherwise, unless he holds a valid therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for such substance. Mr Kendrick did not hold a valid TUE.
‘A tribunal therefore confirmed Mr Kendrick’s commission of a doping offence under Article C.1 of the tennis anti-doping programme, and determined that he should be suspended from participation for a period of 12 months, commencing as from 22 May 2011 and so ending at midnight on 21 May 2012. ‘The tribunal also determined that Mr Kendrick’s results at the 2011 French Open should be disqualified, with resulting forfeiture of the ranking points and prize money that he won at those events.’
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