Maria Sharapova needs no introduction when it comes to her achievements in tennis. With huge fan following all across globe Maria Sharapova has been always in limelight for many reasons. However her suspension from the game of tennis for two years broke many hearts and even Maria was devastated with this. But there is news to enjoy finally as Maria Sharapova’s doping suspension has been reduced to 15 months from two years and it is her legal team which has reasons to smile after a long time.
The Russian tennis star who got a partial victory in the world’s top sport on Tuesday after her appeal in the two-year suspension for a doping violation. The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that Sharapova’s punishment will be reduced by nine month, ruling the original penalty as disproportionately harsh for an infraction that Sharapova had committed unintentionally.
The tennis star was tested positive for meldonium, a heart medication which is newly banned by antidoping regulators at the Australian open in January. Maria publicly disclosed the violation in March days after she was privately notified of the lab results. With this new judgement coming Maria will be eligible to return to international competition on April 26, 2017 as per a statement from the International Tennis Federation in time for the French Open and Wimbledon. However as per the earlier ruling Sharapova was suspended until Jan.25, 2018.
With this court ruling Sharapova can feel some relief and it would offer her much strength which otherwise was missing because of this long ban. Even this ruling will help Sharapova redeem her sponsors that quickly distanced themselves from her when she was imposed with a discipline last spring. Companies like Nike, expressed support for Sharapova, a five time Grand Slam champion while others like Porsche said that they would wait until the court delivered its ruling to decide whether to continue their relationship. As per a company spokesman for Porsche it is learnt that the company is planning to discuss a future collaboration in coming weeks.
Sharapova said in a statement on Tuesday “I’ve gone from one of the toughest days of my career,” “to, now, one of the happiest days.”
Still, Sharapova and her fans need to wait for another six months to see her in action at the court and reclaim what she has lost during this tough time.
