American tennis player Jenson Brooksby has been banned for 18 months after an independent tribunal found he missed three drug tests in the space of a year.
Key points:
- Athletes can be suspended without a positive test if they miss three in 12 months
- Jenson Brooksby has accepted two of the charges, but denies a third
- Brooksby intends to appeal his suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
The International Tennis Integrity Agency said Brooksby accepted that his “whereabouts failures” for two of the missed tests “were valid” and that the tribunal found his degree of fault for the other test “was high”.
Under anti-doping rules, athletes can be penalized without a positive test if they have three whereabouts failures within 12 months.
“I have never taken a banned substance in my life and have been open and honest with ITIA throughout my case. I understand that this is my responsibility and that I will learn and grow,” Brooksby wrote in a social media post.
“I have accepted that two of my missed tests were my fault, but I continue to maintain that my missed test on June 4, 2022 should be set aside.”
He said he was unaware that a doping control officer was looking for him that morning, that his cell phone was on silent when he received a call and that his hotel room was never called.
“I was awake and had nothing to hide,” Brooksby wrote, adding that he plans to appeal the decision.
He accepted a provisional suspension in July, meaning his ban will be retroactive to that date and will end on January 4, 2025. He has three weeks to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which he intends to do.
“Jenson is very disappointed,” said Brooksby councilor Amrit Narasimhan.
“We are focused on our efforts to move forward and appeal to the CAS.”
Jenson Brooksby will appeal his ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. (Getty Images: Jason Heidrich)
Brooksby, a Californian who turns 23 this week, was ranked 33rd.
He is currently No. 301 after spending most of the season out of competition because he had to have two operations on dislocated wrist tendons – on his left arm in March and on his right arm in May.
His last match on tour came in January, when he beat three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud at the Australian Open before losing to eventual semi-finalist Tommy Paul.
Brooksby’s best result at a major tournament was reaching the fourth round at the 2021 US Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
“I will be back,” Brooksby wrote Tuesday, “and I hope it will be soon.”
AP
