Casper Ruud has defended Jenson Brooksby after the latter received an 18-month suspension for missing three drugs tests in a 12-month period.
The American player accepted the blame for two of the three whereabouts failures but contested the third, arguing that doping control officers did not make him sufficiently aware that they were in his hotel.
Despite his claims, the tribunal reached the verdict that Brooksby was still at a "high" degree of fault for the missed test, with the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) calling the 22-year-old "negligent by not making themself available for testing during the identified time slot." Brooksby has confirmed that he will appeal the decision.
Ruud criticizes doping test system
Now, World No. 8 Ruud has come to Brooksby's defense in a video interview for Eurosport, saying that the length of his suspension is disproportionate to the infraction committed.
"I think the punishment is too long," he said, "18 months is you lose almost in a way like three years of your career because 18 months is a year and a half and then it'll take you about a year maybe more to kind of obviously he's good enough to come back to the Top 100. He's a good enough player but you're not just gonna win every tournament you come back."
The Norwegian player added that while he understood the need for surprise doping tests, he also felt that they sometimes caused a lot of inconvenience to players and were difficult to manage.
"Maybe it sounds silly but let's say I wake up during the night at like 6:15, I wake up by myself because I have to pee so much. You're kind of thinking oh maybe they [doping control] come up at 7 so maybe I shouldn't go because I want to save it. If I go and empty my bladder at 6:15 maybe I won't get to pee until like 10. You cannot just pee whenever you want.
"This is why I feel sometimes you live in like under watch or like in prison because you can of course but it's smart not to pee just like right before they might come so it's just a little stressful in some situations," he continued.
