LONDON — 

American tennis player Jenson Brooksby was given an 18-month suspension after an independent tribunal determined he missed three drug tests within the span of a year.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said Tuesday that 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 accepted a provisional suspension in July, so his ban will be backdated to then and end on Jan. 4, 2025. He can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Brooksby, a Californian who turns 23 on Thursday, 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 in January, when he beat three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud at the Australian Open before losing to eventual semifinalist Tommy Paul.

Brooksby’s best result at a major tournament was reaching the fourth round at 2021 U.S. Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets.

___

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