10sBalls.com • TennisBalls.com
Home / Tennis News / Jenson Brooksby Suspended 18 Months for Whereabouts Failure

Jenson Brooksby Suspended 18 Months for Whereabouts Failure

Jenson Brooksby of the USA is suspended 18 months. EPA-EFE/JOHN G MABANGLO

Jenson Brooksby has been suspended 18 months for a whereabouts rule violation.

The suspension will knock Brooksby out of the entire 2024 season.

An independent tribunal suspended Brooksby for 18 months after it found he committed three whereabouts failures in a twelve-month period.

The independent tribunal met on October 10, 2023, hearing from Brooksby and several witnesses including the Doping Control Officer (DCO) who was involved in the disputed second missed test.  Brooksby accepted that the first and third missed tests were valid so only the second missed test was in dispute before the tribunal.

Having considered the evidence, the tribunal found that Brooksby’s degree of fault for the missed test was high. The tribunal found that the DCO “took all reasonable steps to locate the player” in the disputed test and the player was negligent by not making themself available for testing during the identified time slot.

Brooksby, who has a career-high ATP singles ranking of 33, elected to take a voluntary provisional suspension shortly after being notified of the charge and as such, the sanction will be backdated to July 5, 2023 and end on January 4, 2025. During this time, the player is prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the tennis members of the ITIA: ATP, ITF, WTA, Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.

On social media, Brooksby vowed: “I will keep fighting.”

“I am very disappointed to learn that I have been suspended for 18 months, for having missed three tests,” Brooksby said. “I have never taken a banned substance in my life, and I was open and honest with the ITIA throughout my case. I understand that it is my responsibility and will learn and grow. I accepted that two of my missed tests were my fault, but I continue to maintain that my June 4, 2022 missed test should be set aside.

“On that date, I was in my hotel room for the entirety of my one-hour testing window. The hotel room had been booked for the first part of my stay in the name of my physio (who was staying with me), because the ATP did not provide me with a room until June 4. Starting on June 4, the room was in my name, but I had asked that my name be added to the room days before that, and had even given my passport to the hotel front desk when I needed a new key – if my name was not on the room when I showed my passport before June 4, then I’m not sure why the hotel gave me a key. For some reason, on the morning of June 4, the hotel told the doping control officer that I had not yet checked in but they did show him their computer screen which already had my room number listed on it.”