Maria Sharapova: My doping test results have been declared positive

Maria Sharapova, the tennis star, announced that her doping test at the first Grand Slam of the year held in Melbourne has been declared positive. When Sharapova set Monday, March 6, for her press conference, it was expected that she would announce her retirement date, but another news was on the way. This news quickly made headlines in global media. Sharapova did not leave remarkable results in Melbourne and performed even below expectations. Her victories over Japan's Nao Hibino, Belarus's Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and America's Lauren Davis did not surprise anyone, as none of them had a place among the world's top players. Her match against Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in the fourth round was also very tough and exhausting. A narrow victory of 7-5 in two sets allowed Sharapova to advance. If doping was supposed to help Sharapova, it should have happened in the quarter-finals against American Serena Williams, but the world number one easily passed her Russian rival with scores of 6-4 and 6-1. She stated that the medication she took has been in her medical program for years but was added to the banned substances list at the beginning of 2016, and she was unaware of it. Sharapova expressed hope that the penalty imposed on her would not end her professional sports career. Sports enthusiasts have known her name for years. She started professional tennis in 2001, but this does not mean she is aging; she is only 28 years old, while the world's top female tennis player, Williams, is approaching 35. According to the latest world ranking, Sharapova is in seventh place, having won Wimbledon at the age of 17 and holding titles in all four Grand Slam tournaments. She achieved the top ranking at 18 years old. Sharapova is a figure beyond sports; in 2005 and 2008, no other male or female athlete was searched as much as Maria Sharapova on Yahoo! She is an attractive model for promoting various commercial brands and is one of the most popular athletes in the world, often surrounded by numerous side stories. Her suspension and absence from future competitions will naturally reduce the excitement of the matches.