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WIMBLEDONJune 27, 2012Wayne OdesnikLONDON, ENGLAND B. PHAU/W. Odesnik THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. So it's been a long road back to get to a main draw. What was it like to be back to this level and playing a slam again? Talk about your experience. WAYNE ODESNIK: Well, first, I mean, it is. It is my first fifth‑set match since 2009 at the French. So obviously we had play over two days, but as far as the match went, I wasn't expecting to get in here. I put myself in the position to be in the last round of quallies, and I got a little bit lucky to get in. I thought I had a pretty decent draw as far as playing Bjorn first round. You know, he played well, but, you know, I think I definitely had some chances. You know, it was kind of like a coin toss at the end to come back today and play one set, you know, to move on to the next round. So congratulations to him and best of luck. Q. What was the night like for you? WAYNE ODESNIK:  I mean, we got out of here pretty late, so, I mean, went back, ate, stretched, showered and went to sleep. I was here at 10:00 this morning. So, no, I was pretty relaxed.  Obviously you want to win and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, I mean, I'm happy to be playing here at Wimbledon, you know, especially because I have done it on my own. Within a year and a half I'm back. I think I'm playing better than ever, you know. Unfortunately, beginning of this year, I had a couple minor string of injuries where, you know, I was about to break in the top 100 and then a tore a muscle, was out three, four weeks, and then something else was out for a little bit. But all in all, I think I'm playing really well, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. Q. Why was your ban halved? WAYNE ODESNIK: Yeah, I heard today that there was a pretty harsh article that I think is a little bit unfair for the media to write something that is completely and utterly 100% false. As the ITF said and what I hadwith them, which is obviously medical records that I was able to show them to substantiate the reasoning of why that medication was recommended to me by medical doctors. Obviously there is information there that cannot be ‑‑it's medical information, which with the ITF, that is private information, just as if you go to the doctor. It's private. I think one thing I would like each and every single one of you to jot this down in capital letters, I would 100% never say anything bad about a player or do something that I was a spy or something of that sort. That is utterly 100% false. I don't know where you guys started this rumor or where you heard it from, but I think that needs to be clarified. Q. So why was it halved? Did you offer substantial assistance to the authorities? WAYNE ODESNIK: Yeah, I explained to them why I had the medication. I proved to them medical information of why I had it, and for that I was 100% honest with them. I never tried to lie to them. I was completely honest with them, and therefore, they understood the reasoning why I had it and they reduced my sentence. Q. You have never given any information about other players to the authorities? WAYNE ODESNIK: 100% no. Q. Are you being cold‑shouldered in the locker room? WAYNE ODESNIK: No. I mean, I'm pretty cordial with a lot of the players. They say hi to me. I have always kind of been ‑‑at night I don't go and have dinner with them. I have never been that way. I have always been pretty‑‑ you know, with my team or my coach, whomever I'm with, I will go and have dinner. Yeah, How did you do? Great. Good luck. Things like that. Most of the players are pretty cordial, I guess you can say. Q. Some of them were putting it in pretty strong terms, calling you a snitch, saying you should have served your full term. WAYNE ODESNIK: Well, I think this is the information you provided in rumors in the media, which is completely false. I think if they ‑‑the only information they get is from reading the newspaper, and the information in the newspaper is not true. So, you know, maybe they can understand that I would never ‑‑I don't really care what they do. Doesn't help me; doesn't hurt me. I'm out there to do the best that I can do, and that's it, you know. Q. You've done a pretty good job so far sort of rebuilding your career. Do you find it harder to rebuild your reputation within the sport? WAYNE ODESNIK: Well, yeah. I think once you clarify this, that I'm a spy or these rumors that are completely false, I think that's more‑‑ I guess from what I read orfrom what I heard in this article what the players are more upset about is the fact I'm a spy or a snitch or something like that. The fact that I started from absolutely zero with no ranking points, no wildcard, nothing, and a year and a half later I'm already almost top 100, playing in a Grand Slam event, I think that shows my level is there and I belong here and I'm playing well and I still have a bright future ahead of me. Until this gets clarified where you stop writing nonsense about things that aren't true, I think that will help in another sense. Q. Andy Roddick in the next round, it could have been an attractive matchup. WAYNE ODESNIK: Yeah, obviously I was looking forward to that. He's a hell of a player, especially on grass. Maybe the last six months maybe he hasn't performed as well as he has in the previous years, but he won last week. That was definitely a match that I was looking forward to playing. You know, I thought ‑‑but, you know, I have to wait for next time. Q. Just for tennis reasons? Andy was a pretty vocal critic. WAYNE ODESNIK: No, for tennis reasons it's a very good opportunity for me obviously to play someone of that caliber maybe who isn't at the peak of his career. Obviously he can still play fabulous tennis, and I'm sure he'll do very well here. But, you know, any time you get to play somebody like that, former No. 1 on a main court in a Grand Slam, that's what you work for.  So it's an opportunity to be had. You know, when I had someone that was a little bit better than me in this match, I've got to go back and work on a few things and hopefully I'll get another chance. Q. Do you think what you said today will clear the air in the locker room? WAYNE ODESNIK: I don't know. I mean, I am telling you guys ‑‑you asked why my sentence was half. I'm telling you the information I gave to the ITF and the reasoning behind it, what the substantial assistance was was that I was completely honest with them, gave them all the information and four months of records, of everything. They seemed fit to let me play. So what do you want from me? I'm here, I'm doing the best that I can, I'm playing, I'm proving that I belong here. You know, I'm trying to keep to myself the best that I can, be friendly with people if they're friendly with me. That's it. Q. Why did you have HGH in the first place? WAYNE ODESNIK: Well, obviously you, in the last two years, you didn't read the papers? Q. No, just to finish off what you said. WAYNE ODESNIK: I have already stated that two years ago. I don't need to get into that now. Q. The treatment you had the last two years, media and other players, do you think it's really unfair for you? WAYNE ODESNIK: Yeah. I mean, you know, another thing with the ITF was that if I kept everything private with them and if I didn't talk to the media, if I just kind of went about my business, that was another‑‑and gave them the information and that, you know, the medical information that I had given them and things like that, that's what they had requested on my behalf. So obviously there were things in the media which I could have been able to speak out on, but, you know, it's not going to change anything. Just trying to, you know, use it as motivation to come back and let my racquet do the talking. Q. What is your goal now going forward on this season? WAYNE ODESNIK: You know, I'll go home. Obviously I have been in Europe for six weeks. I will go home and take a little bit of time off and see friends and family that have been extremely supportive through everything. You know, then I'll come back and try and play some ATP events on clay, being that I was injured for most of the clay season where I feel that my game is suited best. Hopefully I will stay injury‑free and have a great summer. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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