Maria Sharapova's doping ban reduced on appeal

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Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has had her two-year doping ban reduced on appeal.

.MariaSharapova</a> can resume playing competitively from April 2017. Full details: <a href="https://t.co/3hPDjNWPDc">https://t.co/3hPDjNWPDc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WTA?src=hash">#WTA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/doping?src=hash">#doping</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/meldonium?src=hash">#meldonium</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tennis?src=hash">#Tennis</a> <a href="https://t.co/JDRxpxHDP9">pic.twitter.com/JDRxpxHDP9</a></p>&mdash; Sportstar (sportstarweb) October 4, 2016

The Court of Arbitration for Sport decided the five time Grand Slam winner must now serve a 15-month ban.

Sharapova tested positive for Meldonium at the Australian Open in 2016.

Mathieu Reeb is the CAS secretary general:“The CAS panel in charge of this matter had to examine whether the player’s fault was significant or insignificant. The CAS arbitrators considered that Ms Sharapova bore some degree of fault as she and her entourage failed to make sure that the substance contained in a product she has been taking for over a long period of time remained in compliance with the anti-doping regulations.”

The Russian will be able to return to the tennis court on 26 April, 2017.

Meldonium, a heart disease drug, became a banned substance on 1 January 2016.

She said she was unaware the drug had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list.

The first Grand Slam she will be eligible for is the French Open.