Former tennis world number one Maria Sharapova said on Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she has been taking the last 10 years for health issues.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova crashed out of the Stuttgart Grand Prix semi-final in her first event back after a 15-month doping suspension, losing to France's Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.
Looking at the response time, brands are proactively snapping ties with celebrities in the face of controversy.
Newly-elected president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Bernard Giudicelli, has indicated that they are reluctant to hand Maria Sharapova a wild card entry for this year's Grand Slam tournament despite the embattled Russian tennis star returning from a doping ban.
Russian swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev have launched an appeal against the ruling banning them from next month's Rio Olympic Games even though they have never failed a doping test.
Maria Sharapova retired injured from her second round match with Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Italian Open on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova says she is not looking too far ahead after returning from a doping suspension but concedes she is eager to be competing for the biggest titles in tennis again.
Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard called Maria Sharapova as a 'cheater' over her return from a drugs ban and suggested the Russian should be banned for life.
Women's Tennis Association Chief Executive Steve Simon has defended the wildcard entry awarded to former world number one Maria Sharapova.
Former American great Chris Evert has no issue with tournaments handing Maria Sharapova wildcard entries as the Russian former world number one makes her way back from a doping ban, she said on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova will not care less what reception she receives when she plays her first Australian Open match since completing a doping ban on Tuesday, according to three-times Melbourne winner Mats Wilander.
Sharapova, making her return to top-flight tennis after serving a doping ban, defeated Romanian Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to move into the 2nd round of the final major of the year.
Maria Sharapova has admitted that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open this year. The Russian star has confessed that she tested positive for Mildronate/Meldonium, a medicine she has been taking for 10 years owing to health issues, and the same is included in the fresh list of banned substances.
'Maria will look at it and see no one dominant. Serena Williams is the only player in the past who has been like a thorn in her side, but she feels mentally superior to most of the other and she feels she can win against them all'
Maria Sharapova's reduced suspension for a doping violation is set to provide a healthy boost to her bank balance with corporate sponsors reaffirming their commitment to the Russian player. The 29-year-old can return to the court next April after the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced her two-year ban by nine months on Tuesday. Sharapova's stunning admission in March that she had tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open, and her subsequent ban by the International Tennis Federation, saw a number of sponsors distance themselves from her.
With no Russians, few stars and the sport engulfed in a doping crisis the world indoor athletics championships begin this week with officials holding their breath and eager to put the spotlight back on the track.
'We are trying passionately to protect those clean athletes who are going to Rio 2016'
So prior to their Melbourne Park rematch, former champion Sharapova said she was primed and ready for another drawn out dog-fight against the 14th seed.
Should the 30-year-old three-time Rome champion, ranked 211 in the world, reach the semi-finals, she would almost certainly earn an automatic Wimbledon main draw slot ahead of the May 22 rankings cut-off date.
Rafael Nadal is convinced that none of his rivals are taking performance-enhancing drugs and believes that people who have accused him of doping have 'personal problems'.
However, the 30-year-old Russia belied her own self-doubt with an impressive three-set win over the Romanian to thrust the former world number one back into the spotlight as the toast of the Big Apple.
Not just because Serena Williams looks capable of landing a 24th Grand Slam title against all the odds having returned from maternity leave and Maria Sharapova is seeking redemption after a 15-month doping ban with a third French Open title.
Chris Evert said on Monday she was stunned to hear that Maria Sharapova failed a doping test, but not by the fact that there is doping in tennis, claiming that she knew players who doped during her career.
World No 2 Andy Murray says Maria Sharapova should be banned after her positive test for meldonium and questioned the Russian's use of the drug for medical purposes.
Tennis star Maria Sharapova said on Tuesday she is excited about her return to competition next month, feeling vindicated by the reduction of her doping suspension and empowered by her time away.
US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, starts Monday, August 28, at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Rafael Nadal has asked the International Tennis Federation to publish the results of his drug tests following an accusation of doping by a former French cabinet minister.
Still shaking off the rust from a 15-month doping ban and a string of nagging injuries, the 30-year-old Sharapova needed all her skill, determination and two hours and 44 minutes to snatch victory in front of a packed Arthur Ashe stadium.
Challengers to Serena Williams' throne have proved as fickle as a Paris spring and as the year's second grand slam starts the veteran American is again seemingly in a league of her own. The 34-year-old's charge to overhaul Margaret Court's record 24 grand slam singles titles may have stalled since she chalked up major number 21 at last year's Wimbledon. But after fine-tuning her claycourt game by winning last week's Italian Open she will begin the defence of her French Open title as the strong favourite. With twice French Open champion Maria Sharapova suspended pending the findings of an anti-doping hearing after she tested positive for Meldonium in Australia this year, the list of players capable of toppling a fully firing Williams is short.
Tennis is going through 'tricky' times amid the swirling 'rumours' of doping and betting, concedes Novak Djokovic but the World No.1 says he would not question the sport's integrity till the time concrete evidence is presented to prove wrongdoing.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Eugenie Bouchard pulled off her first win over Maria Sharapova with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 triumph in the Madrid Open on Monday in a thrilling contest full of tension after the Canadian had called the Russian a cheater following her doping ban.
According to sources, Sania's mother Naseema had rung up AITA Life President and ITF Vice President Anil Khanna on Thursday morning asking him to look into the reports that accuses Venus Williams to taking drugs at the Rio Games.
As Serena Williams sits out a fourth straight Grand Slam, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova will join Caroline Wozniacki in a quest for a major breakthrough in Australia.
Russian swimming chief Vladimir Salnikov said on Tuesday the atmosphere surrounding his team at the Olympics reminded him of the Cold War, and criticised American breaststroke champion Lilly King for attacking the integrity of her Russian rival.
Testers were also routinely obstructed from gaining access to athletes who used military cities as the location for their whereabouts knowing doping control officers would need special permission to gain access. The WADA update also revealed several examples of widespread efforts to avoid testing, including one detailed instance where an athlete tried to use a container inserted inside her body that presumably contained clean urine.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Sun Yang became the first Chinese swimmer to win the Olympic men's 200 metres freestyle gold medal on Monday.
Audacious coups by Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have transformed the tennis landscape and they will begin 2017 eyeing the kind of domination that few would have thought possible at the start of a seismic year.
Maria Sharapova's mix of grit and power were enough to see off American teenager Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
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