Rusedski vows to play on

Greg Rusedski kept a low profile on his arrival in Sydney today as he was whisked out of the airport via a side exit to avoid the assembled media pack.

Dressed in a a black shirt and trousers and hiding behind dark glasses, Rusedski disembarked his Qantas flight from Adelaide and immediately jumped into a security car awaiting him on the tarmac.

According to the security staff – who reported Rusedski as being polite but “not chatty, I don’t think he was in the mood” – the British number two was met at a secret exit at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport by his manager and driven off.

Before leaving Adelaide, Rusedski once again denied he had intentionally taken the banned substance nandrolone.

“I expect to be found completely innocent of all charges,” he said.

His arrival was a cloak-and-dagger affair, the like of which not even Australian icon Shane Warne employed when he returned from the cricket World Cup having been informed he too had failed a drugs test.

In the four hours between Rusedski’s expected arrival to the time his flight eventually touched down and he was secreted out of the airport, rumours were rife that he was to meet a connecting flight and fly back to England.

But this evening he remains in the draw for the adidas International, which starts in Sydney on Sunday, and the Australian Open.

“I just want to continue to enjoy my tennis and play my tennis in Australia,” said Rusedski.

“That is why I decided to come down here and play, because I know I am innocent.”

Rusedski yesterday issued a statement through the Press Association admitting he had tested positive for nandrolone.

The 30-year-old faces a hearing in Montreal on February 9, but is free to play on until then.

The adidas International organisers are not concerned that having a player in the draw who has tested positive for drugs will overshadow their tournament.

Many will argue, as they did in the Rio Ferdinand saga, that the player should be withdrawn from competition until after the hearing.

“It is nothing to do with us,” said Craig Gabriel, spokesman for the adidas International.

“It is between him and the tour, and with a field like we have we are not concerned.

“We have eight top 10 women, four top 10 men, and the entire Australian Davis Cup team.

“It is obviously taking some of the attention at the moment and will grab the attention when he plays.”