Hey guys 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. God is Great always
Mikael Ymer retires from tennis suddenly after lengthy 18 month doping ban despite protesting innocence
ATPFriday, 25 August 2023 at 22:31
Mikael Ymer
has announced his retirement from professional tennis just over a month after
receiving a suspension from the ITF for missing three doping tests.
The
24-year-old Swedish player has been a prominent figure in his country's tennis
scene in recent years, achieving a career-high ranking of world No. 50.
Since 2019,
Ymer has been the highest-ranked Swedish tennis player, and he's been the only
one to consistently stay in the top 100 since the time of the 2-time French
Open finalist Robin Soderling.
Ymer took
to his social media accounts to announce his decision to retire from
professional tennis, a mere five weeks after his suspension for missing three
doping tests:
“Hey guys,
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. God is Great always,” Ymer wrote.
Ymer
explained that the issue he faced was not related to using prohibited
substances but rather missing the doping tests unintentionally because they
were conducted at times when he wasn't present at the specified location:
“In January
2022, the ITF charged me with a potential anti-doping rule violation for having
3 missed out of competition test attempts in a 12-month period. I fought that
charge at a hearing, and was cleared by an independent tribunal of 3
arbitrators in June of 2022."
He also
mentioned, “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. However, I do not
believe I broke those rules, and my conscience is clear with God as my
witness.”
During his
career, Ymer did not secure any singles titles but reached the final of the ATP
250 Winston-Salem Open in 2021, where he lost to Ilya Ivashka. In Grand Slam
events, he reached the third round of the Australian Open, French Open, and
Wimbledon, but never progressed beyond the first round at the US Open.
1/2 Hi guys! It’s been unreal and some very difficult days for me. I’m trying to find the right way to process the news and work out how to proceed from here. In the meantime I won’t be making any comments or interviews. I would however like to put on record my experience with…
2/2 When we learned of the missed test, my team and I obviously tried to find out what had gone wrong. The system we had in place had worked pretty well - both for me, but also all the other top athletes my agent takes care of. And it goes without saying, that having had 2…
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