Home
Fernando Vedasco, former world No. 7, has been sentenced to a two-month suspension for doping for failing to extend a therapeutic use exemption (TUE), the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced Wednesday. The independent body, however, considered the Spaniard’s explanations admissible.
He violated the anti-doping rules, but his good faith was recognized. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced Wednesday that Fernando Verdasco has been suspended for two months from all competition. Traces of methylphenidate, a central nervous system stimulant, were found in Verdasco’s urine during a Challengers Tour tournament in Rio de Janeiro in February 2022. However, the ITIA accepted the player’s explanation that he had a TUE for the drug but “forgot to renew it when it expired”.
VERDASCO COULD POTENTIALLY PLAY THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Since the positive test, Verdasco renewed and obtained his TUE application, the ITIA found that he “did not attempt to cheat” and reduced the player’s suspension from two years to two months, which he accepted. Verdasco will be able to play again from January 9, 2023, the ITIA said.
Verdasco, now 38 years old and ranked 125th in the world, reached the 7th position on the ATP rankings in 2009, the year he was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, the only semifinal of his Grand Slam career. He is not directly qualified for the first Grand Slam of 2023, but there is nothing to stop him from qualifying in Melbourne. He has seven titles to his name, the last one won in 2016 in Bucharest.
