Mikael Ymer

Mikael Ymer (born 9 September 1998) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He had a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 50, achieved on 17 April 2023. In the ATP doubles ranking his career high was No. 187, achieved in October 2017. He was the No. 1 Swedish player. He retired following the announcement of an 18-month suspension for violating anti-doping rules in July 2023.
Early life
Ymer was born in Skara, Sweden to Ethiopian immigrant parents. He is the younger brother of fellow tennis player Elias Ymer. His other younger brother, Rafael, is a tennis player on the juniors' circuit.
Juniors
Mikael contested his first junior major final at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships but was defeated by American Reilly Opelka in straight sets.
In 2015 Ymer managed to claim his second European Championships title (U18), beating Bernabé Zapata Miralles in the final in straight sets.
Professional career
2016–2018: Maiden ATP title in doubles, Masters 1000 debut and first win
He made his Masters 1000 debut at the 2017 Miami Open as a wildcard and won his first match at this level in the 2018 edition of the same tournament after also receiving a wildcard.
2019–2021: Major & Masters & Top 70 debuts, Two Majors & Masters third rounds, Maiden final
He made his Grand Slam main draw debut through qualifying at the 2019 French Open where he recorded his first Major win against fellow qualifier Blaž Rola in straight sets.
He finished year 2019 ranked No. 74 in the singles rankings.
He made his debut at the 2020 Australian Open and defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama in the first round. He reached a new career-high ranking of No. 67 on 2 March 2020.
Ymer reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career at the 2021 Australian Open. He did so by defeating 26th seed Hubert Hurkacz and qualifier Carlos Alcaraz, before losing to fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. At the 2021 Miami Open he reached also the third round for the first time at a Masters 1000 defeating 27th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.
As world No. 105 at the 2021 French Open, Ymer achieved the biggest win of his career by defeating world No. 15 Gaël Monfils in the second round. With this victory, he once again reached the third round of a major, this time losing to Jannik Sinner.
At the 2021 Winston-Salem Open, Ymer beat eleventh seed Albert Ramos Viñolas, lucky loser Max Purcell, and thirteenth seed Frances Tiafoe to reach his first ATP semi-final. He continued with a win over fifteenth seed Carlos Alcaraz to reach his first ATP final, making him the first Swedish tour-level finalist since Robin Söderling at the 2011 Swedish Open. Ymer lost the final to Ilya Ivashka in straight sets in 56 minutes.
In August, Ymer played at the 2021 US Open, losing to Jenson Brooksby in the first round.
He finished year 2021 ranked No. 93 in the singles rankings.
2022: French Open third round, Maiden ATP 500 semifinal
Ymer was not able to defend his third round showing at the 2022 Australian Open, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round.
In February, at the 2022 Open Sud de France, Ymer reached the semi-finals, defeating three French players Corentin Moutet, third seed Gaël Monfils (his second top-20 win) and Richard Gasquet.
At the 2022 French Open he reached the third round at this Major for the second consecutive time in his career defeating James Duckworth and 29th seed Dan Evans before losing to 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
At 2022 Wimbledon Championships he reached the second round defeating Daniel Altmaier.
At the 2022 Citi Open he defeated Andy Murray and 15th seed Aslan Karatsev to reach the round of 16. Next he defeated Emil Ruusuvuori to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 tournament for the first time. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Sebastian Korda in three sets to advance to his first ATP 500 semi-final in his career. As a result, he moved close to 40 positions up the rankings back into the top 80 to No. 77 on 8 August 2022.
At the 2022 Winston-Salem Open, Ymer received a wildcard but lost in the second to qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler. As a result, his ranking fell to No. 99 on 29 August 2022. At the US Open he lost in the first round.
At the 2022 Firenze Open he reached the semi-finals as a qualifier defeating again fifth seed Aslan Karatsev and Roberto Carballés Baena but lost to JJ Wolf. As a result, he moved 20 positions up in the rankings back into the top 80 on 17 October 2022.
At his home tournament in Stockholm using a special exempt status, he reached the quarterfinals where he lost to top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. As a result, he moved up to No. 76 on 24 October 2022.
He continued his good form qualifying for the main draw of the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters for the second year in a row. He won his first round match defeating Alexander Bublik. He lost to world No. 8 Félix Auger-Aliassime in a three tight set match with two tiebreaks that lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes.
2023: Top 50 debut, Wimbledon third round, suspension, and retirement
Ymer started his 2023 season in Adelaide. At the first tournament, he lost in the first round to qualifier Roman Safiullin. Getting past qualifying at the second tournament, he reached the quarterfinals where he was defeated by eventual champion, Kwon Soon-woo. He lost in the first round of the Australian Open to 31st seed Yoshihito Nishioka.
Making it past qualifying at the first edition of the BW Open, Ymer made it to the final where he lost to top seed David Goffin. As a result, he reached the top 60 in the rankings on 30 January 2023. Representing Sweden in the Davis Cup tie against Bosnia and Herzegovina, he won both of his matches beating Mirza Bašić and Damir Džumhur. Sweden ended up winning the tie over Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–1 to advance to the Davis Cup Finals. At the Open Sud de France, he lost in the first round to seventh seed Emil Ruusuvuori. At the Rotterdam Open he qualified again for the main draw but lost to wildcard Tallon Griekspoor. At the 2023 Open 13 Provence he reached the quarterfinals after a walkover from sixth seed David Goffin in the second round. He lost to top seed and eventual champion Hubert Hurkacz. He reached a new career high of world No. 51 on 10 April 2023 and the top 50 a week later.
Ymer got disqualified from his match at the 2023 Lyon Open against Arthur Fils after smashing a racquet against the umpire's chair.
He reached the quarterfinals at the 2023 Eastbourne International. At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships he reached the third round for the first time at this Major defeating world No. 9 Taylor Fritz in five sets after being two sets to love down.
On 17 July 2023, CAS announced that Ymer will be suspended for 18 months after having missed three out-of-competition doping test attempts in a 12-month period. Ymer said he was innocent and launched an appeal. The suspension was upheld on appeal, with the CAS also making public that Mikael had stated he missed a drug test due to sleeping in after staying up all night to care for his brother Elias, who Mikael claimed was sick. The CAS reported that Elias was at a tennis tournament in Finland at the time so Mikael's version of events could not be true. After the suspension was upheld, Ymer announced his retirement from professional tennis on 25 August 2023.
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
ATP career finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Doubles: 1 (1 title)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 10 (6–4)
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Boys' Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)
Record against top 10 players
Ymer's record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with active players in boldface.
Wins over top 10 players
He has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
References
External links
1998 births
Living people
Swedish male tennis players
Tennis players from Stockholm
People from Skara Municipality
Swedish people of Ethiopian descent
Sportspeople of Ethiopian descent
21st-century Swedish people