Maria Sharapova faced one of the most brutal turning points of her career on March 7. The Russian tennis star was informed that she had failed her drug test for Meldonium, a drug she had been using for medical reasons for the past 10 years.
However, Maria Sharapova’s story was far from over and she made a triumphant return to professional tennis.
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What Is Meldonium And How Did It Affect Maria Sharapova?
Meldonium is a heart drug that Sharapova had been taking for several years. It was not always banned for an athlete.
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WADA added it to their list of banned drugs from January 1, 2016 via an Email. This was overlooked by Maria Sharapova and she continued taking it.
On March 7, she tested positive for the drug. The ITF reacted strongly to this revelation and handed her a 2-year suspension. The punishment was called out as too harsh by many tennis fans who pushed ITF to reconsider their decision. This was based on the premise that the only mistake made by Sharapova was to miss an email. Maria reiterated that warnings about changes to anti-doping rules weren’t communicated effectively enough.
Sharapova’s case was found strong by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). As a result, her ban was reduced from 24 months to 15 months.
What Were The Reactions To Maria Sharapova’s Doping Ban?
Sharapova received mixed reactions from her co-players as well as her sponsors. Her major sponsors were quick to distance themselves from her. This included Porsche, Tag Heuer and Nike who suspended lucrative sponsorship deals with the tennis star.
However, racquet manufacturer Head stood with Sharapova and in fact, they offered to extend her contract with them.
Even the United Nations removed Sharapova as their goodwill ambassador. She had been active in helping recovery efforts after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
When Did She Make Her Return And What Were The Reactions?
Maria Sharapova’s return in 2017 evoked more controversies than her ban. She got a wild card entry in Stuttgart as well as Madrid and Rome.
Established players were critical of Maria Sharapova being given a backdoor entry. Players like Caroline Wozniacki, Dominika Cibulkova, Kristina Mladenovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, Eugenie Bouchard and Roberta Vinci opined that Maria Sharapova should take the more regular route of qualifying rounds.
Lucic Baroni even compared her to disgraced Tour De France champion Lance Armstrong.
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Sharapova’s comeback was strong enough as she made it to the semi-finals of Stuttgart. However, the French Open refused to give Maria a wildcard and insisted that she go through qualifying rounds.
Overall, this was a tumultuous period in the life of Maria Sharapova. Even after return, life was not all that easy as she faced the curse of injuries.
However, Maria Sharapova’s career has been a story of comebacks and surprises.
