Maria Sharapova won the first match after the suspension
Maria Sharapova successfully held her first match after a 15-month suspension. In the match of the first round of the tournament in Stuttgart, the Russian tennis player beat the Italian Robert Vinci with a score of 7: 5, 6: 3. “Masha played well. For her and all of us, her start was great,” said the head of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev.
In June 2016, Maria Sharapova was disqualified by the International Tennis Federation for two years due to taking meldonium, which was included in the list of prohibited drugs. Later, the Russian tennis player filed an appeal, as a result of which the sports arbitration in Lausanne reduced the period of disqualification to 15 months. The term of disqualification of the tennis player officially expired on April 25, 2017.