Jenson Brooksby says he was tested for doping soon after his 18-month suspension was announced

DALLAS (AP) — American tennis player Jenson Brooksby says he was tested for doping “just hours after” his 18-month suspension for missing three tests was announced.

“Whoever made that decision does not care about the players’ mental health,” Brooksby wrote Wednesday on social media.

“This is my 5th test since March 2023 including 1 test outside my 1 hour window,” he wrote. “I have never failed a test.”

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said Tuesday that Brooksby was banned until January 2025 after an independent tribunal determined he missed three drug tests in the span of a year. The ITIA said Brooksby accepted that his “whereabouts failures” for two of the missed tests “were valid” and the tribunal found his degree of fault for the other test “was high.”

Under antidoping rules, athletes can be penalized without a positive test if they have three “whereabout failures” within 12 months.

Brooksby, who is from California and is now based in Dallas, has a three-week window in which to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, something he plans to do.

Brooksby has been ranked as high as No. 33. He is currently at No. 301 after going most of the season without competing because he needed two operations for dislocated wrist tendons: on his left arm in March, and on his right in May.

His last match on tour came at the Australian Open in January.

He turns 23 on Thursday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis