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Mikael Ymer's latest revelation about his 18-month suspension under the anti-doping violation rule has left tennis fans with a bitter taste in their month.
Earlier last week, the Swede was handed a suspension by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) for missing three out-of-competition doping tests during the 2021 season.
After Ymer appealed the case and was given a clean chit by an independent tribunal, the ITF went to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) for another ruling. The CAS then ruled against the 24-year-old, sentencing him to an 18-month ban starting immediately.
On Tuesday, Ymer took to social media to shed light on the circumstances that led to the third instance, revealing that it was a mix-up involving his agent, the hotel where he was staying and a rather hostile WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) handler.
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"Upon learning that I wasn’t at the hotel, and despite knowing that a player’s career was on the line, he decided to run down the clock until he called me. My attorney was able to prove that this exact handler had gone out of his way to find a different player at another event, and therefore it is clear that the “protocol” is only applicable if the handler so chooses," Mikael Ymer wrote.
"I am usually booked into the main official hotel. However, when I tried to check in, it turned out I had actually been moved to the secondary hotel... It just happened to be, that WADA decided to show up for an out of competition test the following morning at the main hotel," he added.
Fans on Twitter flocked to express their sympathy for the Swede, proclaiming that his ban was "ridiculous" and "unnecessary." Many were of the opinion that the tennis tours would be better off focusing all their energy on addressing more important issues, like domestic violence, instead of such matters.
The comments come days after former World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was accused of assault and causing bodily harm by his ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea. This is the second such instance the German has been accused of assault, with the ATP letting him go scot-free the first time due to insufficient evidence.
"On a day when Mikael Ymer lays out just how ridiculous and unnecessary his 18 month ban is, ATP allows two players who face allegations of DV to play with zero consequences. Let that sink in for a second," one fan said.
"Wouldn’t it be great if the tours cared as much about creating a domestic violence policy as they did drug tests?" another fan said.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
"It feels like a bad dream; I don’t think justice has been served" - Mikael Ymer
In his heartfelt post, Mikael Ymer lamented that the whole suspension incident felt like a "bad dream" and that justice hadn't been served in the way it should have been.
At risk of losing his prime years because of the ban, the Swede couldn't help but wonder if he had to be the "casualty" to prove to others that the system worked.
"It feels like a bad dream. I don’t think justice has been served. I am 24 years old, at the prime of my career with a career-high ranking, and I have been banned for 18 months.
"Are we comfortable affecting young people’s livelihoods like this? Am I a casualty needed for the system to work? So why was I different?" Ymer concluded.
