Russian tennis star Sharapova suspended for 2 years for doping

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has been suspended for two years for breaching anti-doping rules, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) reported on its website on Wednesday, Tass reports.

Sharapova has been disqualified for two years, commencing on January 26th, 2016, the ITF said.

Sharapova announced in early March her doping sample taken during the 2016 Australian Open tournament showed the presence of the substance meldonium banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since the beginning of the year.

The Russian tennis star was preliminarily suspended from competitions from March 12th.

Tennis player Maria Sharapova says banned drug found in her doping probe

Sharapova said she would file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), ESPN reported.