Mikael Ymer, world No. 51, banned for 18 months after missing three out-of-competition doping tests

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer was banned for 18 months on Tuesday for missing three out-of-competition doping tests in a 12-month period.

The decision came from the Court of Arbitration for Sport after it partially upheld an appeal from the International Tennis Federation.

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

Ymer, who also stressed that he has "never ... used nor been accused of using banned substances," was initially charged by the ITF in January 2022 after his third whereabouts violation, at a Challenger tournament in France the previous November.

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.

The ITF appealed that decision the following month, requesting a two-year ban for Ymer, and CAS imposed a slightly lower sanction, finding that "the degree of fault of the player, a professional and experienced athlete, was high."

"I understand that these rules have been put in place to protect the integrity of our sport, and that they are there for a reason," Ymer said. "However, I do not believe I broke those rules, and my conscience is clear with God as my witness."

Ymer is currently ranked 51st — one below his career-high — and reached the third round of Wimbledon after coming back from two sets down to defeat No. 9 Taylor Fritz.