Picture Credit: Twitter

Picture Credit: Twitter

Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer is set to be banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) for 18 months after missing three out-of-competition doping tests in one year. The decision by CAS came after an appeal from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). 


Ymer was first charged by the ITF in January 2022 after a third violation at a Challenger tournament in France. Though he contested this by saying that his agent had failed to notify the authorities about his changing of hotel in time. The young tennis player accepted the first two violations and his story about the third violation was tried by an independent tribunal where he was acquitted. 


The acquittal, however, was appealed by the ITF, who requested a two-year ban for the Swedish player. The CAS compromised, and has instead handed an 18 months ban to the 24-year-old.


Ymer says ban is “unfair” and that his “conscience is clear”


Taking to Twitter, Ymer said, “Having already been cleared once, and wholeheartedly standing by the fact that I do not feel that the third offense was committed, I find their decision to try me again and subsequently find me guilty, unfair. On top of that I find it difficult to comprehend that they found an 18-month suspension to be just punishment.”

Ymer has, in the past, stressed that he has never used nor been accused of using banned substances. “I understand that these rules have been put in place to protect the integrity of our sport, and they are there for a reason. However, I do not believe I broke those rules, and my conscience is clear with God as my witness,” he added.


Before his suspension, the world ranked 51 player participated at Wimbledon where he managed a career best performance and reached the third round. Ymer triumphed over ninth seed Taylor Fritz but was ultimately knocked out in a five-set match against Colombian Daniel Elahi Gelan. 


Ymer has withdrawn from the Gstaad Open in Switzerland on Tuesday, where he was set to face Juan Pablo Varillas.