After testing positive for a banned substance in January, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova was suspended from competition for two years by the International Tennis Federation.
The suspension, which was announced in April and retroactive to January 26, was the result of a failed test for meldonium. Sharapova admitted to taking the heart medication at the time, claiming she had been on it for 10 years and was not aware that it had been added to WADA’s banned drugs list.
In the face of her two-year exile, Sharapova filed an appeal.
On Tuesday, Sharapova scored a partial victory when the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that her suspension would be reduced by nine months, allowing her to return to the sport in April 2017.
“I’ve gone from one of the toughest days of my career last March when I learned about my suspension to now, one of my happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April,” Sharapova said in a statement via the New York Times. “In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back. Tennis is my passion and I have missed it. I am counting the days until I can return to the court.”
Sharapova’s first tournament back will likely be the Madrid Open in early May, which she previously won in 2014.
