After American tennis player Jenson Brooksby was banned from the courts until January 2025, Reilly Opelka slammed the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and defended his fellow player on Instagram.
Brooksby to extend absence
Brooksby has been out of action since undergoing surgery on his left wrist in March 2023 and his right wrist in May 2023, according to TennisNow. However, it appears that his absence from the court will continue after the International Anti-Doping Agency (ITIA) imposed a suspension of 18 months for Brooksby following reports that he had missed three drug tests in a twelve-month period.
The ITIA formally declared its verdict on Brooksby’s case on its website, concluding that Brooksby was found to be at fault to a high degree for the failed test.
The organization said that its Doping Control Officer made every effort to find Brooksby at the hotel and that the athlete acted irresponsibly by failing to show up for testing within the designated window of time.
Under TADP Article 2.4, a player is subject to a maximum suspension of two years if he is found guilty of three missed drug tests over a period of 12 months. And, unfortunately for the US player, all three missed tests occurred within 12 months starting from April 2022.
Brooksby speaks out on Instagram
On Instagram, Brooksby provided his followers and fans with a detailed explanation of what happened.
Via Brooksby’s Instagram: “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.
“Even having that information, the Doping Control Office never asked the hotel to call my room, so I did not know that the Doping Control Officer was there to test me – no call was made to my hotel room for the entire hour, and the Doping Control Officer only called my cell phone (which was on silent) in the last four minutes of the testing window (at 6:56 AM). Had the Doping Control Officer called my hotel room even once, I would have for sure been tested because I was awake and had nothing to hide.”
Reilly Opelka defends Brooksby
In a later post, he continued by saying that he had an ITDM test on a Tuesday night, not long after the ITIA had suspended him, and that the person who made the decision had obviously not given thought to his mental health.
The people then showed their support for Brooksby in the comments section, including fellow compatriot Reilly Opelka, who said, “Players are getting zapped off addys (adderall) but you enter the wrong hotel address and you get suspended for 18 months. Bs.”
Reilly Opelka defends Jenson Brooksby after he was suspended for missed doping tests:
“Players are getting zapped off addys (adderall) but you enter the wrong hotel address and you get suspended for 18 months. Bs.” pic.twitter.com/FuyvaEKtdc
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 26, 2023
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