In light of fan's "ADHD" comment on Holger Rune's Indian Wells run, YouTuber-turned tennis pro makes startling drugs accusation against ATP players

A fan recently joked about World No. 13 Holger Rune taking "ADHD medication" on social media. Their post, however, prompted a serious response from Brazilian pro Karue Sell, who took a shot at his peers for allegedly using methamphetamines.

Sell, ranked 274th in the world, mostly plies his trade on the ATP Challenger tour and the ITF Futures circuit. The 31-year-old, who also runs a YouTube channel, played his first-ever pro-tour match at this year's Rio Open, where he lost to Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli in three sets.

Karue Sell has also been a staunch critic of doping in tennis, having previously stated that the sport is "not clean." The Brazilian believes that many pros are taking advantage of the ambiguity in anti-doping guidelines by taking stimulant drugs that are used to treat ADHD.

In that context, Sell's recent post on X hardly comes as a surprise, where he quote-reposted a fan's seemingly innocuous post referencing Holger Rune after the Dane reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday (March 11).

"Holger Rune on ADHD medication is easily a top 3 player on the tour," the fan in question wrote on X.

In response, the three-time ITF titlist accused several players of using methamphetamines while poking fun at their dependency on it.

"Lol. Just a bunch of players on methamphetamines.. But sure, they 'need it'. Can't live their lives without it," Karue Sell wrote in his repost of the fan's post about Holger Rune on Wednesday.

During a recent interaction with "The Changeover Podcast", the World No. 274 claimed that many players were using Adderall to enhance their mental strength during matches. He also referenced Maria Sharapova testing positive for meldonium in 2016, which the Russian had at the time attributed to her unawareness of the substance having been put on the 'prohibited list' by WADA.

"I mean, there's a bunch of guys taking Adderall. I personally don't think tennis is clean," Sell said on the Changeover Podcast a few weeks ago (from 0:25 onwards). "I'm more on the case of the players that are able to take Adderall, and I'm like, 'Okay?' I'm just like, 'You can lock in mentally for hours? The hardest part of the sport?'"

"So I don't think it's clean, the reality is there's probably a lot of smart people that are able to..." he added (1:43). "People are using things that are either not banned yet, or teetering the line of being banned or not, you know, like when the Sharapova thing happened."

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Holger Rune to face Tallon Griekspoor for a place in the semifinals of Indian Wells Masters 2025

Holger Rune has reached Indian Wells QFs for the second consecutive year | Image Source: Getty

Holger Rune, meanwhile, will resume his 2025 Indian Wells Masters campaign against the unseeded Tallon Griekspoor in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Thursday (March 13). The former World No. 4 will be eager to win his first pro title since the 2023 BMW Open.

For academic purposes, the 21-year-old is looking to record his third ATP Masters 1000 semifinals appearance in his last four appearances at the level. He also reached the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters and the Paris Masters last year, losing to Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev, respectively.