NAN-S-19
Sharapova
By Victor Okoye
Abuja, Jan. 10, 2017 (Reuters/NAN) Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will return to competitive action at the Stuttgart Grand Prix in April, following a 15-month doping ban, the Russian said on Tuesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Florida-based Sharapova was originally banned for two years after testing positive for meldonium in last year’s Australian Open.
The former world number one, one of the highest paid athletes in the world in the past decade, admitted she had used meldonium for years.
But the Russian had insisted she was not aware it had been banned since the start of 2016.
Her suspension was later cut to 15 months on appeal.
“I cannot be happier to have my first match back on tour at one of my favourite tournaments,’’ Sharapova, who won the indoor clay event three years running from 2012, said on the tournament website.
“I can’t wait to see all my great fans and to be back doing what I love.’’
NAN also reports that she will return to action in time to contest the season’s second Grand Slam at Roland Garros, the French Open, which begins on May 22.
“I’m really happy for Maria. She’s back after a long break.
“Particularly pleasing for me is that it’s going to be our audience that gets to watch her comeback live.
“It is certainly (going) to be one of the sporting and emotional highlights of our anniversary tournament,’’ tournament director Markus Guenthardt said.
Sharapova, who will turn 30 on April 19, had earned 29.7 million dollars in 2015 as the world’s highest paid female athlete.
She had called the original ruling by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) “unfairly harsh’’ after an independent tribunal found that she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.(Reuters/NAN)
VO/HAS/OLAL
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(Edited By Hajia Sani and Olawale Alabi)