Alcaraz's coach says it's great for tennis – and for his charge – that Nole is coming to Australia.By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday, November 30, 2022

All signs point to Novak Djokovic being a significant force on the ATP Tour in 2023. The 35-year-old finished 2022 on a hot streak, winning 18 of his final 19 matches and claiming his sixth ATP Finals title.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the coach of Carlos Alcaraz, says that is just fine with him.

“We need him,” said Ferrero of the 21-time major champion, in an interview with Eurosport.

Ferrero, a former World No.1, still believes that squaring off against Djokovic is critical to his development as a player – even if the 19-year-old Spaniard takes a few lumps.

“I think for Carlos to improve his tennis he needs to play against one of the best in the history,” Ferrero said. “Of course Rafa [Nadal] is there to play against him – and Novak, we need him.”

Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the Madrid semifinals this spring. It was the pair’s only meeting and it went in favor of the Spaniard. Djokovic, who missed several months due to not being allowed to play at the Australian Open, Indian Wells or Miami, was hardly in mid-season form at the time, however.

Nevertheless, Ferrero liked how his charge rose to the challenge, accepting the stress of the moment to win in a third-set tiebreak.

“In Madrid Carlos played against Novak and he increased his level to try to win the match, so that’s what we need, to play in the Slams against him, I think it’s very important for Carlos to improve,” he said.

No ducking the toughest test in tennis for Alcaraz, the World No.1 and his coach are happy that Djokovic, the nine-time champion, will be present and accounted for in Melbourne.

“Carlos and I were talking about [the fact] that we’re happy to see Novak there because if you want to win the Australian Open you have to win against the best, and of course it’s good news,” he said.

Former world No. 7 suspended two months for the presence of the ADHD medication, methylphenidate, in a urine sample after forgetting to renew TUE.
Fernando Verdasco has accepted a two-month suspension after forgetting to renew his Therapeutic Use Exemption and failing a doping test.

The 38-year-old Spaniard acknowledged the presence of the ADHD medication, methylphenidate, in a urine sample. Vedasco accepted a voluntary provisional suspension and will serve a two month suspension, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced today.

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Former world No. 7 Verdasco was tested at an ATP Challenger event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in February 2022.

Verdasco admitted the Anti-Doping rule violation and explained that he had been medically diagnosed with ADHD and legitimately used methylphenidate as medication prescribed by his physician to treat the condition in accordance with a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), but had forgotten to renew his TUE when it expired.

Since the finding, there has been an ongoing TUE re-application process involving the player, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the ITIA. The player has been granted a new TUE by WADA for his medication moving forwards, and has withdrawn from the retroactive TUE process to resolve this case.

The ITIA said it "accepts that the player did not intend to cheat, that his violation was inadvertent and unintentional, and that he bears No Significant Fault or Negligence for it. In the specific circumstances of this case, based on the player’s degree of Fault, the TADP allows for the applicable period of ineligibility to be reduced from two years to two months."

Verdasco's two-month suspension will conclude on Sunday, January 8, 2023.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve