Mikael Ymer announces his abrupt retirement from tennis after failing to overturn doping ban

Ymer says he “never . . . used nor been accused of using banned substances”

LONDON (AP) — Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer has abruptly announced his retirement at the age of 24 after an unsuccessful attempt to overturn an anti-doping suspension.

“I’ve decided to retire from professional tennis. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been! I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition,” Ymer wrote on social media on Friday.

Ymer was charged in January 2022 for missing three out-of-competition tests in a 12-month period. He initially fought the charges and said he had been cleared by an independent tribunal in June 2022.

But the ITF appealed the decision, after which the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in July partially upheld the two-year ban and imposed an 18-month suspension.

“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,” Ymer wrote on Twitter in July.

“On top of that, I find it difficult to comprehend that they found an 18-month suspension to be a just punishment.”

Ymer said he has “never . . . used nor been accused of using banned substances.”

He accepted his first two whereabouts failures but argued that in the third instance he had changed hotel but his agent had not made the necessary update. That was upheld by an independent tribunal, which cleared the player in June 2022.

Ymer was ranked as high as 50 in the world in April and represented Sweden in the Davis Cup along with his older brother Elias. He was 80th in the most recent ATP rankings.

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