Maria Sharapova claimed victory in arbitration Tuesday when she successfully had her tennis suspension reduced from 24 to 15 months. Now she’s going on the offensive and saying that she may have been targeted with her suspension.
“I don’t want to think that,” Sharapova said during an interview with ESPN. “I hate to think that. It’s not a great feeling to even consider that.
“It’s hard not to when the Tennis Federation asks for me to be banned for four years.”
Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in January. It was a substance she had been taking for several years — she had tested positive for it multiple times in 2015 when it was on the watch list — but meldonium was only added to the banned list this year. Sharapova’s 24-month suspension was announced in June.
Sharapova may be trying to spin things now and make it look like she’s a victim, but she has been using the substance for years, and it was her responsibility to know that it was added to the banned list in 2016.
