Here we go again, preying on the lower-ranked players.

The powers that be send the X Man to solitary confinement for a year not for testing positive for a banned substance, but for missing a test and failing to disclose his whereabouts twice.

It's always the lesser players the authorities make examples of in tennis. But when a major star tests positive, they accept any lies or excuses without any further questioning.

This was the case when one star said he took a drink out of his assistant's soft drink which was spiked with drugs. Or another star explained away a positive cocaine test claiming he kissed a girl. or something was contaminated.

Yeah sure. And my Volkl racquet doubles as a hover craft in its spare time.

Talk about double standards. Jonas Bjorkman said it publicly. Bjorkman said he's heard of cases where the authorities covered up knowledge about positive tests. Bjorkman said this in a 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated. Bjorkman said it, it was documented, and to my knowledge, Bjorkman was never sued by the ITF or ATP or any other organization for defamation or slander.

So here we go again, now they will hang Malisse, though he never has tested positive FOR ANYTHING. Who's next? Arguello? Granollers? Coetzee? Kukushkin? Saeda?

Reckon we won't ever see a top 10 player suspended for one year for missing a test or not disclosing his whereabouts. But who cares anyway?

Who cares about the little guy? Juding by the actions of the powers that be, we know they don't.

Tennis Week contributing writer Scoop Malinowski's latest book Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle was called "A smashing success," by Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward, who called the book "one of the two best boxing books I've ever read." Author Joyce Carol Oates, whose book "On Boxing" is regarded as a classic calls Scoop, "one of the hottest young journalists in pugilism." He's recently done Biofiles with Billie Jean King, Asafa Powell, and Olympic gold medalists Carolina Kluft, Oksana Baiul and Tirunesh Dibaba. Please visit his site www.thebiofile.com. Scoop is also a ham and egger tennis player, currently ranked No. 4 in the USTA Eastern 35s and holder of the Tennis Week singles title.