Sharapova’s ban reduced to 15 months
Maria Sharapova's two-year doping ban has been reduced to 15 months following her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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The five-time Grand Slam winner, 29, was initially banned by the International Tennis Federation for two years after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
The Russian will be able to return to the tennis court on April 26, 2017.
Meldonium, a heart disease drug also known as mildronate, became a banned substance on January1, 2016.
Sharapova said she had been taking the drug since 2006 for health problems and had "not tried to use a performance-enhancing substance".
She said she was unaware the drug had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) banned list.
The CAS panel said it found Sharapova's case "was not about an athlete who cheated".
Credit: BBC