"It feels like you are a prisoner in a way": Ruud hits out at random drug testing amid Ymer suspension

Casper Ruud expressed his support for Mikael Ymer after the 18-month suspension for missing anti-doping tests.

World No. 4 Casper Ruud commented on the suspension given to Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer. The 24-year-old Ymer was sanctioned for missing three anti-doping tests, resulting in an 18-month suspension from the ATP tour. This means he could return to the tour only in 2025 and without a ranking.

José Morgado

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World #51 Mikael Ymer suspended for 18 months.

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Mikael Ymer, currently world No. 51, announced on Tuesday that he will have a provisional suspension due to missing anti-doping tests, although he claimed that the third instance never occurred. Norwegian player Casper Ruud responded to the incident by showing his support for Ymer:

“It feels like you are a prisoner in a way because if you are not there when they show up then you have problems,”

“Let's say you have to be home between 9-10pm one evening. Then a friend calls and asks if we should go out to dinner. Then you can't do it because you have to be at home that hour in case the doping inspectors come,” Ruud added.

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Can't stop Casper! 👊 The run continues for @CasperRuud98 as he defeats Ymer 3-6 7-6 6-1 and gets through to the semi-finals in Kitzbuhel #ATPKitz

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"It's tough but those are the rules," said Ruud about Ymer

The 3-time Grand Slam finalist acknowledged that Ymer made a mistake, but he understands that there is a possibility of missing an hour someday

“Mikael has made a mistake, but I know from my own experience that you can miss that hour some day and then they call and say: ‘You have five minutes to come here or you will get a warning,’ and it can feel like someone checks one. It's tough but those are the rules,” he added.

“What was surprising was that he was acquitted, but that the union appealed. It is surprising.

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“I thought the federation would help players, not try to punish them. This shows that they are not helping the players, in this case. Without the players, there is no tournament. They should show that they want to help the players."

Mikael Ymer recently had a remarkable performance at Wimbledon, where he made a comeback from two sets down against the 9th seed Taylor Fritz and eventually won the match 3-2, with a scoreline of 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Unfortunately, in the third round, he wasn't as fortunate and lost in the third set against Colombian player Daniel Elahí Galán.