Maria Sharapova says she's coming back stronger after doping scandal
Tennis star Maria Sharapova is preparing to return to the professional game in April. The world’s Court of Arbitration for Sport cut her two-year doping suspension by nine months on Tuesday, after the five-time Grand Slam champion tested positive for a heart medication that she used for years before it was banned by regulators.
“Tell me your reaction to this decision that came from Switzerland,” “CBS This Morning” co-host Charlie Rose asked Sharapova on his PBS program.
“I was in my bedroom and I just screamed down to the first floor to my mother that, ‘I’m coming back.’ I was just so emotional,” Sharapova said. “It was like, everything let go because something that I wanted so much -- I was having another opportunity at it.
She’s taken away a lesson that “there are lot of things that could have been done to prevent this.”
“By you and your team?” Rose asked.
“By myself being more proactive, by speaking to my manager at the end of last year and saying, ‘How did you check this? Did you check it? Is it permissible?’ But then, I’ve learned how much more other federations did in this case around this substance,” Sharapova said.
“In trying to inform players and athletes?” Rose asked.
“Well, they informed players directly. We’re not in hiding. We play over 20 tournaments a year,” Sharapova said. “They knew that I was taking Meldonium, and there was no direct access to me. I was right there. They could have told me.”
“There’s the old saying that if it doesn’t kill me, it makes me stronger. Does this make you stronger?” Rose asked.
“Oh, I believe in that saying so much,” Sharapova said, laughing. “I do. I do believe it’s -- there are a lot of things in my life that have made me really strong. And I’ve gone through a lot, and this is part of my journey. And there’s no doubt in my mind that, as I said before, I started my comeback in March, and I’m coming back in April.”