TENNIS: While Greg Rusedski insists his fellow players would rally behind him as he fights to clear his name, Todd Woodbridge, the man elected to be the voice of the locker-room, had nothing but criticism for Rusedski's decision to publicise his positive test for nandrolone.

"He would have had better support in the locker-room if he hadn't broken it the way he did," said Woodbridge, who is deputy chairman of the Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) player council. "I think that was unwise and I'm a little disappointed that he came out with it. What he has done is show the players this isn't the way to go about fighting a drug case and he has made life very difficult for himself.

"He is basically putting himself on trial to the public and I think it is the wrong way to go about it. The process has not been tainted by the ATP or the players, it has been busted by Greg opening up."

Woodbridge's harsh words came just hours after Rusedski, answering questions for the first time since he announced the test result on Thursday night, suggested other players are so certain of his innocence they would back him if he isn't vindicated by the anti-doping tribunal on February 9th.

"I would hope so, with the positive and sympathetic reactions I've had to date," said Rusedski. "Even after my first match, I've had people come up to me and say, 'we're behind you 100 per cent. This is ridiculous'. I've had so much support in the locker-room. I've had a lot of coaches, a lot of players coming up to me and sympathising with me."

It was the second day in a row Rusedski had claimed he had the support of his colleagues. On Sunday, he gave a press conference to say the same thing and he laboured the point again to a television reporter immediately after his first-round win over Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-6 7-6.

Perhaps Rusedski feels he can persuade the ATP he has the popular vote, giving him a better chance of being offered leniency, but attacking the sport's governing body as vehemently as he has done is a high-risk defence strategy, especially if he wants to rebuild his career once the matter has been resolved.

"It's very important, for your image, to have the support of the ATP," said Chela, who served a three-month ban in 2001 for having methlytestosterone in his system. "When I was called by the ATP (and informed of his positive test) I was surprised but I had to face the situation."

Rusedski looked tense as he took questions, directing those which skirted too close to the exact details of his case towards his lawyer, Mark Gay, but there was a defiance behind much of what he said. His wife, Lucy, and his family had been, he said, "a wall of strength", and he said he had been inundated with messages of support from home.

"It hasn't been easy but the support I've had has made it easier for me. That gives me a lot of comfort and that's what drives me on and makes me want to stand up and be counted. We all know the truth here and that's all that counts."

Rusedski and his camp may be confident he will be exonerated, but Woodbridge made it clear not everybody agrees. However much he protests the ATP's testing procedures are flawed and that contaminated supplements could be to blame, he still has a case to answer when he goes before the independent anti-doping tribunal.

"If I can't tell you how I got a substance into my system, even if it was a contaminated supplement, then I am in the wrong," said Woodbridge. "That is what our rules say. There are no ifs or buts, it is clear. If Greg can prove he has taken something that somebody else in the ATP gave him then that's fine, otherwise he is responsible, plain and simple."

Rusedski's clothing and equipment sponsor, Donnay, yesterday vowed to stand by the British number two. A statement said: "Donnay fully expects Greg to be exonerated following a tribunal in Montreal on February 9th which will investigate the circumstances that led to Greg being tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone."