Maximilian Abel (born 28 February 1982) is a professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from Germany. In 2008, Abel received a two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation, for testing positive for cocaine.

Junior career

Abel was runner-up to Andy Roddick at the 1999

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

, in the 18 and under category. En route to the final he had wins over Feliciano López and

Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...

Professional career

Abel reached the final of the Campos do Jordão

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

tournament in 2002, which he lost to

Ricardo Mello Ricardo Mello (born 21 December 1980) is a Brazilian retired tennis player. His preference is for clay courts. He has had the occasional win in hard court tournaments. His best singles rank was No. 50 in 2005. He won one singles tournament (Delra ...

.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> He lost to Bohdan Ulihrach in four sets at the 2003 US Open, which would be his only Grand Slam main draw appearance. In 2003 he advanced to the second round of the

Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...

, where he lost to Roger Federer, and the

MercedesCup The Stuttgart Open (sponsored since 2022 by Hugo Boss and called BOSS Open) is an ATP Tour 250 series professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Between 1970 and 1989, the Stuttgart Open was a Grand Prix tennis circuit event. From 1990 to 1 ...

, where he defeated Antony Dupuis before being eliminated by

Rainer Schüttler Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in double ...

Controversy

In April 2008, Abel received a two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation, for testing positive for a metabolite of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

. The sample had come from the

2007 Open de Moselle The 2007 Open de Moselle was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the fifth edition of the Open de Moselle, and was part of the International Series of the 2007 ATP Tour. It took place at the Arènes de Metz in Metz, ...

, where Abel participated in the qualifying rounds. Abel was arrested in 2008 and in March 2009 was sentenced to three years in prison, convicted of

credit card fraud Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The P ...

. In September 2012, Abel made his comeback at a Challenger tournament in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. In February 2014, a conditional discharge of one year was the sentence after having been convicted of the same type of crime like in 2009. After another conviction of multiple fraud and theft related to his problem gambling, he was sentenced to prison until March 2018. In June 2017 this sentence was extended by another two years and ten months. Shortly before July 2022, Abel was sentenced to another 4 years and 10 months plus one year and 11 months in prison for credit card fraud.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Maximilian 1982 births Living people German male tennis players Doping cases in tennis German sportspeople in doping cases Criminals from Hesse Tennis players from Frankfurt